To alleviate fire marshal office space issues, city Grand Forks moves to buy building (and a comment on property taxes)

Grand Forks is making room for its fire department to breathe. The City Council has recommended purchasing two lots near Fire Station No. 1 to ease overcrowding, particularly for the fire marshal’s office, which has long been short on space. The $850,000 purchase includes office space, a garage, and a workshop—meeting immediate needs with minimal modifications. Beyond helping firefighters, the move could also give the city flexibility for future improvements to the busy Washington-DeMers intersection, a long-identified traffic bottleneck.

Why does this matter in Minot? Even as local officials are critical of property tax reform at the state, they’re actively eroding their local tax base through property acquisitions. It’s true, this is a little bit of a leap, but what if local governments didn’t get a tax exemption on the property they own? What if every time they bought property, they had to pay taxes the same as most other property owners? Do you suppose they’d reconsider some of these acquisitions?

Matthew Voigt

Grand Forks Herald

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