VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The new Barnes County Jail is under construction but several landowners and residents signed a petition to stop construction of the facility along the I-94 frontage road in Valley City.
Terry Brock led the petition effort. He and others received signatures from Barnes County landowners with land totaling a little more than 12 percent of the County’s assessed value. They say under a North Dakota Century Code, if five percent protest the project, construction has to stop.
But during the September 1st commission meeting, Barnes County State’s Attorney Tonya Duffy told members of the “Stop the Jail Committee” that that century code does not apply to this project so construction of the new jail will proceed.
Several Barnes County residents expressed their dissatisfaction with the commission’s decision to proceed with this project during uncertain economic times.
The new jail facility will be financed with a lease-purchase bond over a 30 year period, requiring a 10 mill increase using the Capital Projects levy. For example, property taxes will increase by $45 dollars annually on a $100,000 home or $112.50 annually on a $250,000 home according to Barnes County Auditor Beth Didier.
She said the average value of an acre of cropland is $1,034; for a quarter, that would be $165,440. The assessed value of this (50% of True & Full) is $82,720. Taxable value (10% of assessed) is $8,272. 10 mills against a taxable valuation of $8,272 is $82.72 – so an average quarter of land would have an additional $82.72 levied upon it according to Didier.
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