AN ACT to amend and reenact section 61-16.1-45 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to maintenance of drainage projects.
HB 1280 amends North Dakota law governing the maintenance of assessment drains and other drainage projects. The bill keeps the existing framework that allows water resource boards to fund drain maintenance through special assessments on benefited agricultural and nonagricultural property, while clarifying and preserving two alternative assessment methods for agricultural land and setting the nonagricultural property assessment formula. It also retains the current cap on annual maintenance levies for agricultural land at $4 per acre and the related formula for nonagricultural property.
The bill further addresses situations where annual levy limits are not enough to cover cleaning and repair costs. In those cases, a water resource board may accumulate a maintenance fund up to six years’ worth of the maximum permissible levy. If the needed work still exceeds what can be raised within that six-year period, the board must obtain approval from a majority of landowners before obligating the district for the additional costs. The bill also adds a voting restriction for affected landowners who have not paid required assessments, preventing them from voting on whether the district should incur those costs.
HB 1280 affects Section 61-16.1-45 of the North Dakota Century Code and governs how drainage districts and water resource boards may finance maintenance of assessment drains. It preserves the existing special assessment structure for agricultural and nonagricultural property, maintains the levy caps, and reinforces the process for accumulating reserve funds and seeking landowner approval for larger projects. The bill primarily impacts drainage districts, water resource boards, agricultural landowners, and owners of benefited nonagricultural property.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House unanimously, 91-0, and the Senate by a strong margin, 42-4, indicating general legislative agreement on the need to clarify and preserve drainage maintenance financing rules. The voting pattern suggests the measure was viewed as a practical administrative update rather than a major policy change.
The main point of potential contention is the balance between district authority to levy assessments for drainage maintenance and landowner control over larger obligations. The bill preserves assessment authority but requires majority landowner approval when costs exceed what can be raised in six years, and it further limits voting by landowners who have not paid required assessments. Any disagreement would likely center on fairness in assessment formulas, the levy cap, and whether delinquent landowners should be excluded from voting on project financing.