Cass County committee hears sales-tax fund update; $9.7 million available for projects

County staff told the Cass County Flood Sales Tax Committee that the fund holds $11.7 million in cash, of which $1.9 million is already obligated to previously approved projects, leaving about $9.7 million available for new allocations.

"We currently have 11,700,000.0 in cash in the fund to be utilized," the staff presenter said, adding that the balance represents roughly a 20% increase over last year and that the fund has grown about 16% annually in recent years.

Committee members asked about a prior change in how much of county sales tax goes to the diversion project. Staff said that share shifted from around 90% to 94% in April 2019, leaving 6% of collections for non-diversion projects. Commissioners discussed the possibility of temporarily dedicating additional funds to strengthen the diversion authority—s financial model for a two- to four-year window, noting such a move would likely be contingent on the City of Fargo—s upcoming decision in June on its own sales-tax extension.

Members also reviewed estimated annual county sales-tax revenue and its implications for project funding. One commissioner noted county receipts of about $20 million annually and calculated that 6% retained for non-diversion projects equates to approximately $1.2 million per year in available funds.

No formal action was taken on changing the diversion percentage at the meeting; staff flagged that any future reallocation would require committee consideration and, potentially, formal direction from the commission.