Morton County places 1% sales-tax charter amendment on Nov. ballot, sets preliminary $14.14 million levy

Chair Nathan Boehm opened the Morton County Commission’s Aug. 8 regular meeting and the board moved through a series of routine approvals before taking two items with direct fiscal impact.

Commissioner Morrell moved and Commissioner Buckley seconded to authorize the chair to sign Resolution No. 30-2024-04 to amend the Home Rule Charter to add a 1% sales tax and place the measure on the Nov. 5, 2024 ballot; on roll call Morrell, Buckley, Zachmeier and Boehm voted aye and the motion carried. The resolution as recorded in the minutes directs that the measure be placed before voters; the resolution text was not reproduced in the meeting minutes.

Shortly afterward the commission approved a preliminary 2024 tax levy of $14,138,552. Commissioner Morrell moved and Commissioner Buckley seconded the levy motion; on roll call Morrell, Buckley, Zachmeier and Chair Boehm voted aye and the motion carried. The levy is preliminary; final adoption and any changes will follow subsequent budget review and statutory notice procedures.

The board also approved a package of land-use and infrastructure items by unanimous vote, including a variance to rebuild a garage on the footprint of a former structure in Tokach’s Timberhaven Subdivision, approval of the final plat and an agricultural-to-residential zoning amendment for Rosemary Second Subdivision (conditioned on private-drive maintenance remaining the property owners’ responsibility), and extension of the Honey Hills 1st and 2nd Subdivision plat approval to July 31, 2025. Commissioners Buckley and Zachmeier moved and seconded several of those land-use motions.

Separately, the commission approved a set of Morton County policies (700-series) related to rural infrastructure and road management: Policy #700-001 (Cattle Guard and Cattle Pass), #700-004 (Bridges and Culverts), #700-005 (Dust Control Guidelines), #700-008 (County Highways Within Annexed Cities), #700-011 (Unauthorized Signs or Obstruction in Road or Public Right of Way), and #700-012 (Highway and Road Classification - Definitions). Each policy approval was moved and seconded and recorded as adopted with all voting aye.

Other routine business included approval of abatement #6620 and abatement #6621, acceptance of the sale of delinquent tax parcel 64-0232000 for $6,000, and approval of bills and payroll. The auditor reported total county expenditures of $2,172,266.79 for the period July 24–Aug. 8, 2024 and advised that a detailed check list is available for public inspection at the Morton County Auditor’s Office during regular business hours.

The meeting minutes list Commissioner Leingang as absent; however, the minutes also record a second by Leingang on abatement #6621, which appears inconsistent within the recorded text. The minutes do not include detailed vote tallies for every motion beyond the repeated phrase “All voting aye, motion carried” or the occasional roll call that named Morrell, Buckley, Zachmeier and Boehm as voting aye. The commission adjourned at 8:29 p.m.

What happens next: The sales-tax charter amendment will appear on the Nov. 5, 2024 ballot as authorized by the recorded resolution; the preliminary levy will proceed through the county’s statutory budget-adoption process, where a public hearing and final levy adoption are expected before year-end.