Travis Bunn
Founder, AppealDesk · Published March 1, 2026
How Much Can Property Taxes Increase in North Dakota? 2026 Complete Guide
Updated July 2026
Quick Answer
North Dakota caps levy growth, not assessments. There is no limit on how much your assessed value can rise in a year: property is reassessed annually at true and full (market) value. What is capped, since HB 1176 passed in 2025, is the total property tax dollars most local taxing districts can levy, which may grow no more than 3% per year, with adjustments for new property, voter-approved overrides, and carryover of unused increase authority for up to five years. School districts fall under separate provisions. Homeowners also get a Primary Residence Credit of up to $1,600 per year against the tax on an owner-occupied primary residence, raised from $500 by the same law. So a typical bill is far more contained than it was before 2025, but your individual assessment can still jump without limit, and the only check on that number is you.
Most homeowners never challenge their assessment, usually because nobody tells them they can or shows them how. That gap is the whole reason AppealDesk exists: see what your county has your home on record at, free, and if the number looks wrong we build the case for $49.
Property Taxes in North Dakota: How the System Works
Property taxes in North Dakota start with the assessor. Every property is assessed each year at its true and full value, which is the state's term for market value. There is no cap, freeze, or phase-in on that number. If the market says your home is worth 15% more than last year, your assessment can rise the full 15% in one cycle. States like California and Florida limit annual assessment growth on a homestead; North Dakota does not, and nothing in North Dakota law ties your value to how long you have owned the property or resets it when the home sells.
The restraint in the system sits on the other side of the equation: how much total revenue local governments can raise. That is where the 2025 reforms landed, and it is why the honest answer to "how much can my taxes increase" now has two parts. The levy side is capped at 3% growth for most districts. The assessment side, the number your share of the levy is figured from, is not capped at all.
How Property Taxes Are Calculated in North Dakota
North Dakota real estate taxes run through a chain of percentages that trips up a lot of homeowners reading their notice for the first time. The assessor sets your true and full (market) value. Assessed value is 50% of that. For residential property, taxable value is 9% of assessed value. Multiply it through and residential taxable value works out to 4.5% of market value. Other property classes use 5% of market value instead of 4.5%. Your actual bill is that taxable value multiplied by the combined mill levy of every district that taxes your parcel, minus any credits you qualify for.
Worked example: a $300,000 home has an assessed value of $150,000 and a residential taxable value of $13,500. One mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value, so each mill costs this homeowner $13.50 per year. If the combined levy across city, county, school district, and park district added up to 200 mills, the tax before credits would be $2,700. The same math scales directly: a $1 million home has a taxable value of $45,000, so each mill costs $45, and that same hypothetical 200-mill levy would produce a $9,000 bill before credits. Actual mill levies vary widely from one city and county to the next, so check your own tax statement or your county auditor for the real combined rate where you live.
What Is North Dakota's Property Tax Rate in 2026?
There is no single statewide rate. Your rate is the sum of the mill levies adopted by each taxing district covering your property, and those differ from one township to the next. Because residential taxable value is 4.5% of market value, you can translate mills into an effective rate on market value easily: every 100 mills equals an effective rate of 0.45% of your home's market value. A home taxed at a combined 250 mills, for example, carries an effective rate of about 1.13% before credits. That conversion, not any published statewide average, is the reliable way to compare a North Dakota bill against another state or against a neighboring county.
Two things move that rate over time: districts changing their levies, which HB 1176 now constrains, and your assessment changing relative to everyone else's, which nothing constrains. A homeowner whose value rises faster than the rest of the district picks up a larger share of the levy even in a year when the district's total take grows only 3%.
The 3% Levy Cap: HB 1176 (2025)
HB 1176 is the biggest change to North Dakota property tax in decades. Signed in 2025 with Gov. Armstrong's backing, it passed the Senate unanimously and the House 86 to 4. The context matters: in November 2024, voters had just defeated Initiated Measure 4, which would have constitutionally abolished property taxes based on assessed value and required the state to replace the funding. The measure lost, so the existing system remains, but the legislature answered the pressure with real limits.
The core mechanism is a cap on dollars, not on rates: most taxing districts, meaning counties, cities, townships, and park districts, may increase the total property tax dollars they levy by no more than 3% per year. The cap adjusts for new property added to the rolls, so growth from new construction does not count against it. Voters can approve overrides at an election, and a district that levies less than its allowed increase can carry the unused authority forward for up to five years. School districts fall under separate provisions rather than the 3% cap. The same law raised the Primary Residence Credit from $500 to up to $1,600 per year, which for many owner-occupied homes offsets a meaningful slice of the bill.
What the cap means in practice is that the pool of tax your district collects grows slowly. What it does not mean is that your individual bill can only rise 3%. Your bill is your taxable value's share of that pool, and your taxable value floats with the market every year. If your assessment climbs 12% while the district average climbs 4%, your share of a nearly flat pool still grows.
Caps and rate limits only control how fast your bill can grow. Nothing in them checks whether the number underneath is right. Assessors in North Dakota set values with mass-appraisal models that price thousands of homes at once, and nobody reviews yours unless you challenge it.
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Do Property Taxes Go Up Every Year in North Dakota?
They can, because everything in the system resets annually. Assessments are redone every year, and each taxing district adopts a new budget and levy every year. In a rising market, an unchanged mill levy applied to a higher taxable value still produces a higher bill. The HB 1176 cap slows the district-level total, and the expanded Primary Residence Credit pushes the other direction; state guidance has noted that the credit combined with the homestead credit can sharply reduce, or for some homeowners eliminate, 2026 residential tax bills. None of that, though, is automatic protection for your specific assessment.
The annual cycle also sets your calendar. Values are set early in the year, equalization boards meet in April, June, and August, and the bill lands afterward. By the time the bill arrives, the window to dispute the value behind it has usually closed for that year, which is why the spring notice, not the winter statement, is the document to react to.
The Primary Residence Credit and Homestead Credit
North Dakota now funds two significant residential credits. The Primary Residence Credit is worth up to $1,600 per year against the tax on an owner-occupied North Dakota primary residence. It is application-based, filed through the Office of State Tax Commissioner, and the application period for the expanded credit opened January 1, 2026. If you own and occupy your home and have not applied, that is money left on the table, because the credit is not granted automatically.
The Homestead Property Tax Credit is the state's senior program. It is available to homeowners 65 or older with income of $70,000 or less, counting spouse and dependents, for the calendar year preceding the assessment date. Note the shape of it: this is an income-based credit that reduces the tax owed, not an assessment freeze. North Dakota does not freeze senior assessments, despite what some older guides claim. The two credits can stack, and for a qualifying senior the combination can take a bill down dramatically. Your county auditor can confirm which credits are already showing on your parcel.
- California2% a year
- Florida3% homestead
- Texas10% homestead
North Dakota: Levy cap, 3%. That is a different kind of limit from the bars above, which cap the assessment itself.
HB 1176 caps the dollars most districts may levy, not the value they assess.
A cap limits how fast the number grows. It does not check whether the number was right to begin with.
What you can do about it
How to Protest Your Property Tax Assessment in North Dakota
Because the assessment side is uncapped, the protest process is the only tool aimed at the value itself, and North Dakota runs it as a three-step equalization chain inside the assessment year. Step one is your local board: appear before the township or city Board of Equalization in April, and note that city boards meet within the first 15 days of April. Step two is the County Board of Equalization, which meets within the first 10 days of June. Step three is the State Board of Equalization, which meets the second Tuesday in August, and it cannot adjust an assessment unless you first appealed to both the local and county boards. Skipping a step forfeits the next one, so the April meeting is the deadline that actually controls your year.
A separate abatement process exists for seeking refunds after the fact, but it is a different track with its own rules and timing, so ask your county auditor before relying on it. For the equalization route, your case is evidence: recent sales of comparable homes, and anything showing the assessor's record of your property is wrong on square footage, condition, or features. Our guide on how to appeal property taxes in North Dakota walks the process step by step.
A real AppealDesk order, Hennepin County, Minnesota
In April 2026, a homeowner in Hennepin County, Minnesota ran the check. The county had their home on record at $441,600, while recorded sales of comparable homes supported about $356,693: an over-assessment of $84,907, worth roughly $943 per year if corrected. Their packet laid out the comparable sales, the forms, and the filing steps. Nobody at the county was ever going to run that check for them.
Growth limits only help if the number they grow from is fair. If your assessment jumped after a purchase, new construction, or a revaluation, that new number is the one nobody has reviewed. Checking it is free and takes about a minute.
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Enter your address to pull your county record free. If it looks too high, your $49 packet gives you everything to challenge it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can my North Dakota property taxes increase this year?
There is no limit on how much your assessed value can rise, since assessments track market value annually. Since HB 1176, the total property tax dollars levied by most districts, meaning counties, cities, townships, and park districts, can grow at most 3% per year, with adjustments for new property and voter overrides, and school districts fall under separate provisions. Your own bill can still rise more than 3% if your assessment grows faster than your neighbors'.
How often is my property reassessed in North Dakota?
Every year. North Dakota assesses all property annually at true and full (market) value, and the equalization boards that review those values also meet annually, in April, June, and August.
Does North Dakota have a property tax break for seniors?
Yes, the Homestead Property Tax Credit, for homeowners 65 or older with income of $70,000 or less including spouse and dependents for the calendar year preceding the assessment date. It is a credit that reduces the tax owed, not an assessment freeze. Seniors who own and occupy their home can also claim the Primary Residence Credit of up to $1,600.
Did North Dakota abolish property taxes?
No. Initiated Measure 4 on the November 2024 ballot would have constitutionally abolished property taxes based on assessed value, with the state required to replace the funding. Voters defeated it, so property taxes remain, though the 2025 legislature followed up with the HB 1176 levy cap and the expanded $1,600 Primary Residence Credit.
What is the deadline to protest my assessment in North Dakota?
Start at your township or city Board of Equalization in April; city boards meet within the first 15 days of April. If it is unresolved, go to the County Board of Equalization in the first 10 days of June, then the State Board of Equalization on the second Tuesday in August. The State Board will not hear you unless you appealed at both lower boards first, so the April meeting is the deadline that controls everything after it.
Related Resources
If your assessment looks high, start with our step-by-step guide on how to appeal property taxes in North Dakota. Not sure the effort pays off? See is it worth appealing property taxes for the math, and what evidence do I need for an appeal for what to bring to the board.
This article provides general information about North Dakota property tax laws as of July 2026. Tax laws change frequently, and local rules vary. Consult your county assessor, county auditor, or a tax professional for advice specific to your situation.