Voters in North Dakota could ban most local property taxes, likely leading to dramatic cuts to state services, under a measure voted on Tuesday in the general election.
The vote also includes four other proposals, including one calling for the legalization of recreational marijuana and another to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution.
The measure to end local property taxes based on assessed value would force the state to provide an estimated $3.15 billion in replacement revenue to local governments during each two-year budget, a legislative panel said. The state now projects about $5 billion in general tax revenue in the current two-year budget.
Supporters of the proposed cut say rising property taxes are becoming increasingly frustrating to voters and that the tax system is difficult to understand. Opponents say the measure would force lawmakers to make massive cuts to state services.
Marijuana is also on the agenda as North Dakota voters decide whether to legalize recreational possession and use of the drug. North Dakota is one of a handful of states, including Florida and South Dakota, where recreational marijuana measures went before voters. Two dozen states have legalized recreational marijuana, the most recent being Ohio in 2023.
North Dakota voters rejected previous measures in 2018 and 2022. The state Senate rejected two House-passed legalization and taxation bills in 2021.
The measure would legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older to use at home and, if allowed, on the private property of others. The measure also outlines numerous production and processing regulations, prohibited uses – such as in public or in vehicles – and would allow growing plants at home.
It includes maximum purchase and possession amounts of 1 ounce of dried leaves or flowers, 4 grams of cannabinoid concentrate, 1,500 milligrams of total THC in the form of a cannabis product and 300 milligrams of an edible product. Up to seven marijuana production operations would be allowed, along with 18 dispensaries.
Supporters say the measure would allow law enforcement to focus limited resources on more important issues, such as fentanyl. Opponents say marijuana has harmful physiological and social effects.
Voters will also decide whether to add requirements to citizen-initiated constitutional measures. Such initiatives have been a smoldering issue in the Legislature for years due to the perception that the state constitution is too easy to amend.
The measure mentioned by the Legislature would limit constitutional initiatives to a single issue, mandate that only eligible voters may circulate and sign initiative petitions, increase the number of signatures required for filing petitions, and require that such measures include both primaries and pass the general election.
Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal, who introduced the measure, said the state constitution “stands naked on Main Street in North Dakota, and anyone… from California or New York can throw a dart and play the game for $1 million to change the law in North Dakota.”
Myrdal, an anti-abortion leader in the Legislature, denied that the measure is an attempt to prevent an abortion rights initiative. States across the country — including North Dakota’s neighbors Montana and South Dakota — are seeing the introduction of such measures after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
North Dakota lawmakers in recent years have complained about the origins and financing of ballot initiatives that added crime victims’ rights, ethics mandates and term limits to the state constitution. Opponents say the new proposed restrictions are a step in the right direction for civil democracy.
The other two measures include constitutional amendments from the Legislature to change outdated terms regarding disabilities in the state constitution, and administrative changes for the state’s nearly $11 billion in oil tax savings.
