A long journey lies ahead for House Bill 1525, which came before the North Dakota House Education Committee Tuesday, where numerous voices from the Western Edge, including Dickinson Mayor Scott Decker, issued their support for the bill that would draw money from the Common Schools Trust Fund to pay off all the outstanding debt accrued by school districts around the state.
This would, if passed, avoid the need for voters to determine if they will pay for additional school construction through bonding or tax increases.
“This would fund all new or expanding common school and rural property facilities with the assets from the Common Schools Trust Fund,” Rep. Larry Bellew, R-Minot, and one of the bill’s sponsors, said to the committee during his testimony. “This would provide for facility maintenance and upkeep for all common school facilities used in the Common Schools Trust Fund. This would provide property tax relief to the people of North Dakota.”
