2025 RESOLUTIONS BY
THE NORTH DAKOTA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES AND
THE NORTH DAKOTA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ASSOCIATION
2025-01. Local Government Budget Restrictions. Recently the Legislature capped the property tax dollars that can be spent on local services. One size fits all solutions are rarely effective or fair. Local ELECTED officials know their communities’ needs better than anyone and should be left with the most flexibility in financial decisions. This Association supports efforts to remove 3% caps enacted in 2025 to better suit the local communities. New Resolution
2025-02. Cooperative Services. Restrictions on local governments’ budgets continue to highlight the need to deliver services in new ways. Sharing services between governments is not always feasible for financial or administrative reasons. This Association supports policies and financial incentives which would help overcome such obstacles. New Resolution
2025-03. Local Correctional Funding. Counties play a critical role in maintaining public safety. The current state of local jails and juvenile detention facilities require significant financial investment to facilitate bed space and replace aging infrastructure. Several local correctional facilities need to build new facilities, expand or renovate to meet the public safety needs in our state. This Association supports legislative funding initiatives that include state grants to assist counties in building new, expanding or remodeling correctional and juvenile detention facilities. This Association also urges the Legislature to exempt local correctional costs associated with construction and operation from the current cap on property tax dollars levied. New Resolution
2025-04. Public Employees Retirement System. North Dakota’s public retirement system has been critical to provide county employees with a comfortable life at the completion of their careers. However, many employees wish to continue to serve their communities in a different role by being elected to a position within that county. Certain rules may put their retirement funds in jeopardy if they exercise their right to run for office. This Association supports finding a solution to allow retired employees to continue to serve in an elected capacity without losing their retirement revenue stream. New Resolution
2025-05. Engineering and Architectural Costs. Private engineering and architectural firms are critically important for counties to fulfill their statutory responsibilities. However, the professional service fees continue to climb, making many projects cost prohibitive. This Association supports raising the dollar threshold requirements for professional services to a more reasonable level. New Resolution
2025-06. Commercial Driver’s License for County Road Workers. Counties are responsible for snow removal and maintenance on thousands of miles of roads. CDLs provide an essential safety measure to the motoring public. However, county highway workers operate significantly differently than normal commercial operators. This Association supports efforts to streamline or reduce CDL requirements for county workers while operating within the county. New Resolution
2025-07. 911 Services. The ability to communicate with emergency services is critically important to saving lives. Citizens have come to rely on 911 services in their most desperate time of need. Unfortunately, the current tax structure is no longer sufficient. This Association supports structural changes along with increased funding for 911 services to ensure its viability for the future. This Association also supports elimination of voting requirements for 911 services which only unnecessarily add to the costs. New Resolution
2025-08. Child Welfare Workers. The protection of children from dangers is one of the most fundamental aspects of human life. Sadly, many children face dangers from those who are supposed to protect them. Whether it is by way of neglect or unspeakable criminal acts some children face dangers in which society has a duty to intervene. Child welfare workers play an essential front-line role helping these children and families while at many times placing themselves at risk. This Association supports child welfare workers as being recognized as vital public safety members. New Resolutions submitted by the Human Service Zone Directors Association
2025-09. Social Services Redesign. North Dakota Counties recognize the Legislature’s outstanding commitment to social services redesign and remain supportive of changes that improve service, retain local access, and provide property tax relief through social service financing. This Association supports ongoing efforts to ensure eligible North Dakotans have access to local human services and the costs of delivering those services continue to be funded by non-property tax sources. New Resolutions submitted by the Human Service Zone Directors Association
2025-10. Auditing plans. North Dakota Century Code 11-11-11 requires county governments to perform audits under the generally accepted account principles (GAAP). GAAP audits are a significant cost to counties in which other acceptable accounting practices such as modified cash audits would suffice. This Association supports more flexibility in auditing standards to help reduce costs for the taxpayers while maintaining accountability. New Resolution
2025-11. Wetland Mitigation. Protecting North Dakota’s wetlands and the wildlife they support is an important government function. However, the current use of NonGovernmental Organizations and the costs associated with wetlands mitigation programs are making many projects cost prohibitive. This Association supports looking for alternative funding and mitigation processes to ensure local infrastructure can continue to be developed while protecting our natural resources. Continued Resolution from 2021.
2025-12 Law Enforcement Recruitment & Retention. Counties experience continued challenges in recruiting and retaining sheriff’s deputies and correctional officers. This Association supports legislative focus on this issue and urges the adoption of strategies that will help counties address the problem without greatly increasing the property tax burden. Continued Resolution from 2021