City of Mapleton proposes 35% tax increase

MAPLETON, N.D. (Valley News Live) - The small town of Mapleton, N.D. is likely seeing a big increase in their property taxes this year. Many residents say they moved there, in part, to get away from the big city spending; but instead feel like they’re getting priced out of their small town.

People who live in Mapleton have started receiving their property tax estimates and some have quite a lot to say about it.

One Mapleton citizen took to Facebook saying, “$100 more a month in property taxes! Seriously?”

“Mapleton has always been in this unique situation that we’re a bedroom community, so a lot of our income or our revenue for the city comes off property tax from residential,” explains Mapleton’s Mayor, Andrew Draeger.

He says this year’s tax increase is based on a number of factors, including the need for a new public works facility, handling inflation, and making investments in the city that should have been done sooner. However, not everyone agrees with the spending choices the city has made.

In the comment section of the Facebook post, there was mention of the sidewalk project the city completed that some said they had openly opposed. Many say they’re not seeing their tax dollars working for them.

Draeger says, “Especially now as the city’s grown we need to provide more services, we need to provide better services.”

He says Mapleton has nearly doubled in population in the last 10 years. Adding that, along with that, “We’ve had a lot of challenges, I would say even in the past 10 years, of not being able to adequately provide the services that cities are supposed to be providing, especially on the maintenance side.”

“That strategy of really trying to pinch the best we can, creates other issues,” says Draeger.

Some say their proposed property tax increase could be as much as 32 percent to nearly 35 percent.

“Taxes are, they’re always a tricky situation right,” admits Draeger.

Draeger says he understands the stress that an increase in taxes brings, but he believes, overall, “Taxes are just where cities get the money to actually operate, and get the money to actually do things and provide services.”

Draeger says, the actual tax increases will likely be lower than the estimates residents received as they’re only part of the preliminary budget. The city will have more meetings discussing taxes before a final budget is submitted to the state, which is due on October 10.

Copyright 2023 KVLY. All rights reserved.