MINOT — In September, I wrote that Measure 4, the proposal to eliminate property value taxes, was

“go down in flames.”

This is indeed the case. With just over 129,000 votes in favor, he barely outperformed Democratic candidates in the statewide ballot. The “no” vote won by more than 95,000 votes, reaching almost 64%.

But, as wide as that margin of victory is, remember that the last time a measure to abolish property taxes came up for a statewide vote, the “no” vote topped 76 percent.

Unless North Dakota leaders enact significant property tax reforms, a proposal like this could end up on the ballot again, and it could pass.

Next time it might be a better worded proposal.

Next time, perhaps the campaign won’t be crippled by a polarizing and unpopular spokesperson like former state legislator Rick Becker, who has yet to demonstrate the ability to build a successful political coalition around ‘an election issue, whether it’s a proposal like Measure 4 or his own. candidacy.

North Dakotans did not reject Measure 4 because they were happy with the status quo. They rejected it because the measure did not define what would replace the status quo. Few voters were willing to jump out of the frying pan without assurance that they wouldn’t fall into the fire.

“There is no doubt that a message was sent to the Legislature,” said Chad Oban, leader of the campaign against the measure (and co-host of my podcast).

Peyton Haug told the reporter.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Legislature will do something meaningful on property taxes. If they don’t, we’ll come back here, probably with more support for this measure.”

Oban is right on his last point.

I hope he’s right about the first one too. I hope lawmakers, as well as Governor-elect Kelly Armstrong, have gotten the message. This appears to be the case. “If we don’t follow through on our commitments, it will come back, and it will come back quickly,” Armstrong said at the news conference.

a press conference Wednesday introducing his transition team.

What is delivered must be important and meaningful. We have been trying for years to implement property tax reforms by shifting local spending into the state budget. The influx of tax revenues from oil and gas development into state coffers has made this approach possible, but it is not working. Property taxes have not gone down and one day the oil revenue we use to hide the problem will dry up.

What we need are structural changes to how the tax works. State Rep. Ben Koppleman, a West Fargo Republican who is expected to run for House majority leader in the upcoming legislative session,

advocated taxing the size of the property rather than its value.

“Let’s get rid of valuations,” he told Oban and me on an August episode of Plain Talk.

It’s an idea worth considering, and Koppleman’s instinct to target valuations seems appropriate. Maybe taxing square footage, in particular, isn’t the right approach, but we need to do something to prevent homeowners from being hit with tax increases based on capital gains real estate which they can only achieve by selling their property.

Local governments may also need to prepare for some loss of local control. For years they have managed to leave the property tax issue in the hands of state legislators, but it is a local tax determined by local political decisions. If residents are unwilling to hold back, the state may have to do it for them.

House Minority Leader Zac Ista, a Grand Forks Democrat, has floated the idea of ​​capping local government spending or taxes (which amounts to two ways of doing the same thing).

during an interview with Plain Talk in August.

Although waving “carrots” in front of local governments may encourage them to reduce the property tax burden, “we need to be more serious about talking about sticks,” he said.

They better be big sticks, because North Dakota voters are in no mood for half-measures.

In 2012, voters rejected a proposal to eliminate property taxes, based largely on promises state officials made to fix the problem. But while state officials have invested billions to cut property taxes in the dozen years between that vote and Tuesday’s, voters are still unhappy. We can’t keep throwing money at the problem. Something more needs to change.