The Employee Benefits Programs Committee met this week and took action on four bills of county interest. This committee takes jurisdiction of recommended bills which prompts a fiscal analysis to be conducted. The committee then provides a recommendation. The bills can be forwarded for consideration by bill sponsors during the 2027 Legislative Session. Below is a summary of the bills and their recommendation.
Bill 109 – Favorable Recommendation – Addresses a conflict between federal and ND Century Code. The bill allows county elected officials who have retired and returned to the same county as an employee to continue participation in PERS and receive the benefit distribution.
Bill 113 – Favorable Recommendation – Allows peace officers with at least 20 years of employment as a peace officer and not eligible for Medicare the ability to join the Uniform Group Insurance Program and have the premiums for their pre-Medicare retiree coverage paid for by the state. Estimated financial impact to the state is approximately $500,000 in 2027-2029 biennium and would increase in following biennium.
Bill 190 – No Recommendation – Increases multiplier for PERS members in the Public Safety Plan employed by political subdivisions to 2.25% for all years of service. This bill requires a one-time state infusion of $39 million. Employee contributions would increase for the increased multiplier by 1.32%. Employer contribution remains same.
Bill 191 – No Recommendation – Increases the multiplier for members in the PERS members in the Public Safety Plan to 2.5%. Mandatory employee contribution increases starting 1/28 with an option to buy in with additional contributions for past service credit. While the intent of the bill is to have the increased multiplier paid by the employee contributions as the bill is currently written, it would require an increase by the employer contribution as well. An amendment would be required to address that issue.
TAX RELIEF AND REFORM ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The tax relief and reform advisory committee also met this week for it’s final meeting of the interim. Bill proposals were discussed but no committee action was taken on the concepts. Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus presented information to the committee on the impacts of the cap limitation to the committee with results very similar to what NDACo has presented in the past. Their study indicates counties were forced to having hiring/salary freezes, utilize reserves and delay capital improvements in order to comply with with 3% cap. Their study only focused on counties levy limitations.
Most of the information the Tax Department shared highlighted information focused on the Primary Residence Credit (PRC) of $1600. In 2026, 164,052 residents were approved for the PRC. As expected, counties with higher property values had a greater percentage of residents taking the maximum amount of PRC with those being Cass, Grand Forks, Burleigh and Stark. They estimate 50,000 primary resident households will have no tax liability after the application of the PRC, homestead tax credit or disabled veterans credit is applied.
