Bismarck-backed bill would let cities replace special assessments with monthly infrastructure fee; city estimates $30–$35/month

Representative Jason Doctor told the House Finance and Taxation Committee that House Bill 1389 would give cities an option to replace street-improvement special assessments with a voter-approved utility-style infrastructure fee that would appear on monthly bills. Doctor said the idea dates to a 2017 local task force and that Bismarck and other cities have studied the concept.

City of Bismarck officials said the fee would be tied to a capital-improvement plan and could be adjusted annually, like other utility rates. Jason Tomanek, Bismarck city administrator, said the fee would be used to create a citywide street-maintenance fund to pay maintenance—chip seals, overlays, partial reconstruction—and could be used to secure bonds that would be repaid from the fee stream, or spent on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Toma…