Stutsman County property values increase

Keith Norman, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·3 min read

Aug. 28—Property values in Stutsman County increased by 2.7% for the upcoming property tax year, according to numbers from the Stutsman County Tax Equalization department.

Tyler Perleberg, director of tax equalization for Stutsman County, said values of agricultural land were increased by 1% by the county board of equalization. The remaining increase is a combination of new construction in the county coming on to the tax rolls and increases in appraised values of existing property.

"The cost of materials and the land values keep going up," he said.

The full and true value of real property in Stutsman County increased from $128 million for the 2020 tax year to $131.5 million for the 2021 property tax year which will be paid by residents late this year or early in 2022.

Values in the city of Jamestown rose from $48.7 million to $49.8 million in the same period while Jamestown Public School District increased from $75.9 million to $78.1 million.

Valuation is one part of the formula used to calculate the property tax bill sent to taxpayers in the county. The other is the mill rate which is determined by the expenditure budget of the local government divided by the valuation of the district to determine the mill rate, or tax rate, used for properties within that government's territory.

The Stutsman County auditor's office is planning on distributing notices of estimated taxes for property owners in the county next week.

Stutsman County

The Stutman County mill rate for the upcoming tax season is 72.94 mills for residents outside the city of Jamestown and 70.89 mills for those within the city. The rate for Jamestown residents is lower because they pay 15 mills as a city library levy and are exempt from the 2.05 mill county library levy.

This year's levy compares to a rate of 70.02 mills last year for rural properties and 67.15 mills in Jamestown last year.

County property taxes outside the city of Jamestown would amount to $328 per $100,000 in residential valuation for an increase of about $13 per $100,000 in residential valuation last year.

City of Jamestown

The city of Jamestown mill rate is up less than half a mill, according to Sarah Hellekson, city administrator.

The preliminary mill rate for the upcoming tax year is 118.4 mills compared to 117.93 mills. Because the change is less than 1 mill, it is considered a "zero change" under North Dakota law.

The tax amounts to $531 per $100,000 in residential valuation and is up about $5 over last year's tax bill.

Jamestown Public School District

The mill rate for the Jamestown School District will increase for the first time since the 2018-2019 school year, according to Robert Lech, superintendent of the district.

Based on the preliminary budgets, Jamestown Public School District will operate with a 102-mill rate for the upcoming tax season. This is an increase of 2 mills from the 100-mill rate levy the district has had for the past three years.

The 2-mill increase will be used to pay special assessments billed to the school district for things like streets, water projects or sanitary sewer projects done by the city but billed by the city to the school district through the special assessment process.

Preliminary property taxes for the support of Jamestown Public School District are $459 per $100,000 in residential property valuation in the upcoming taxing year. This is an increase of $9 from last year's tax bill.