On Tuesday, the Beltrami County Board visited with state senators Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) and Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids) on pieces of legislation that would hold counties like Beltrami harmless from Enbridge’s property tax lawsuit.
County Administrator Tom Barry said the property valuation was performed by the state Assessor’s office.
The county then entered these values in their property tax assessments and collected these dollars from utilities like Enbridge.
Barry said two pieces of legislation would hold counties harmless and shift the paying responsibility to the state, but the challenge is having other representatives and senators recognize this unique northwestern Minnesota issue.
The Minnesota Tax Court ruled last month that the state’s Revenue department consistently overvalued the pipelines from 2012 to 2016.
