06-19-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--June 19, 2000 2142 assistance for fire protection services, as the township will not have the tax revenue from this business to provide fire protection for the facility. Various other services are also provided by townships, without receiving revenue. He said Reed Township is not the only township that abuts the City of Fargo and asked the county to take this into consideration on other tax issues. Mr. Wieland said he would like to know the estimated cost of these fire protection services. Dan Huffman, Assistant Superintendentforthe Fargo Public School District, said the district has become increasingly reliant on property taxes to fulfill their responsibility for educating all of the children within the school district boundaries; and almost 60% of the Fargo School District's revenue is paid by property taxes. As new jobs are created, school enrollment increases, and he said some of those children could be in and out of the school system even before the business pays any property taxes, if the 10-year tax exemption is granted. He is very concerned about the length and magnitude of this exemption request and feels everyone with property in the district should pay their share of taxes. In closing, Mr. Huffman said he questions if the business is eligible for a 1 O-year exemption under the century code. He noted the Cass County Commission policy for a 5-year exemption is based upon a sliding scale and said the Fargo Public School District has not taken a position opposing a 5-year exemption. This is the same information the school district provides to the City of Fargo when they are considering property tax exemption applications. Mr. Meyer asked if anyone else in the audience wished to address the board on the tax exemption request, and no one came forward at this time. Birch Burdick, State's Attorney, commented briefly on the 5-year versus 1 O-year exemption and referred to the first paragraph in North Dakota Century Code Chapter 40-57.1-03, which reads in part as follows: "A municipality may also grant a partial or complete exemption from ad valorem taxation on buildings, structures, fixtures, and improvements used in or necessary to the operation of a project that produces or manufactures a product from agricultural commodities for all or part of the sixth year through the tenth year from the date of commencement of project operations," He said the Cass County Commission policy contains similar language, and State law would supersede any county ordinance. In view of the State's Attorney's reading of statutory regulations concerning a 10-year exemption, Mr. Doty asked if this would be the appropriate time to modify the term of the application of Global Electric MotorCars, since it appears they would not qualify for the 10-year exemption. Mrs. Schneider said the county commission can make that determination without a new application being submitted. Mr. Burdick said his advice to the board would be that the Cass County Commission Policy reflects the State statutes, and neither of them contemplated at the time they were adopted that an application such as this would qualify for a 10-year exemption, even though the manufacture of these cars may have an environmental effect. Hearing no further comments, the chairman declared the public hearing closed and suggested the Board take action on the exemption request at either the July 3 or July 17 meeting. If the board is not taking action today, Mr. Burdick suggested re-publishing a public notice as to when the decision will be made on the exemption request. The matter will be placed on the July 17, 2000, Commission agenda to allow time for the additional publication.