FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 21st, 2008

Contact: Dustin Gawrylow, (701) 223-9887

BISMARCK – Today, supporters of an initiated measure to reduce North Dakota’s personal income tax by 50% and corporate income tax by 15% will submit 15,667 signatures to the office of the North Dakota Secretary of State for signature verification.

If placed on the November 4th general election ballot and approved by voters, the changes to the tax code would take effect on January 1st, 2009.

“More than 330,000 North Dakotans pay state income tax. The personal income tax is withheld from each paycheck, and most people probably could not tell you how much is being withheld without looking at their pay stub. It’s time to provide meaningful, permanent tax relief for all North Dakotans,” said Dustin Gawrylow, state policy director at Americans for Prosperity of North Dakota.

“Last session, we spent 78 days debating how to provide tax relief to North Dakotans. However, the compromise we eventually approved expires soon. This measure will guarantee that taxpayers get long-term relief, not just reductions based on what's agreed to each time the legislature meets," State Representative and sponsoring committee member Blair Thoreson said.

“Most of us [sponsoring committee members] were involved in the debate last year regarding property tax reform. The taxpayers of North Dakota will soon have the ability to do what the legislature over the past several sessions has been unable to do – bring true and permanent tax relief to all North Dakotans,” said Mike Motschenbacher, a sponsoring committee member from Bismarck.

“Sixty-two percent of the total state personal income tax is paid by individuals and couples with annual adjusted gross incomes below $150,000. Our intention is not to say that income taxes are more of a concern than property taxes. The fact remains that the income tax is collected by the state and property taxes are not. Now is the time to provide meaningful, permanent tax relief for all North Dakotans,” Gawrylow continued.

Lynn Bergman, another sponsoring committee member from Bismarck, stated “Measure 1, the permanent oil trust fund measure, as well as this initiated measure to cut income taxes, are both possible because of the growth in North Dakota’s economic activity that is the result of the extremely hard work ethic of ALL North Dakotans.

Those same North Dakotans should expect property tax relief from the next legislative session that also prevents School Districts, Cities, Counties, and Park Districts from continuing their “less than responsible” spending habits that have resulted in our ridiculously high local property taxes. The days of local boards spending nearly as much as increased property valuations will allow must end… and must end soon!