Commissioners Slide into Town for 2nd Annual Summit

Jeff Eslinger | County News Editor

As is often the case in North Dakota, winter's first transportation nightmare of the year started out with rain, then freezing rain, then snow, making it almost impossible to get around statewide. Fortunately, a number of Commissioners made it into Bismarck the night before it got really bad and were able to take advantage of good content and camaraderie at the 2nd Annual Commissioners Summit, held at the Radisson Hotel December 9. The ND County Commissioners Association especially appreciates the sponsorships provided by RDO and Bank Forward.

DHHS Director Pat Traynor was the first presenter, outlining our state's plan for the Rural Health Transformation funding.

State Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus and NDACo Research Analyst Linda Svihovec spoke next, with a refresher on the implications of HB1176, the major piece of legislation to come out of last year's Legislative Session. While the tax relief package has seen as many as 50,000 North Dakotans expected to have no property tax burden whatsoever in 2026, counties are expecting serious challenges to meet the 3% cap the law imposed on their budgets.

MaryJo Anderson, ND Public Employees Retirement System Defined Benefit Programs Manager, provided an overview of legislation affecting county benefit plans, particularly affecting public safety employees and elected officials.

Following lunch Mountrail County Highway Engineer Jana Hennessy and Mountrail County Commissioner Joan Hollekim presented their county's in-house CDL training program, which they say has benefited the county and the community greatly, with virtually no downside.

Burleigh County Commissioner Wayne Munson and Home Rule Charter Commission Citizen Member Dustin Gawrylow then led a discussion on the pros and cons of Home Rule. Burleigh County has a Home Rule Charter in place and is considering expanding the use of those tools.

ND Insurance Reserve Fund (NDIRF) CEO Keith Pic then outlined some of the challenges facing NDIRF, including what he called "thermonuclear verdicts," defined as court settlements that exceed $100 million. These kinds of settlements are on the rise nationwide and will likely begin impacting North Dakota in the coming years.

The final discussion was a "Hot Topics Roundtable" dealing mostly with energy development and affordable housing challenges, which often go hand in hand. Panelists were Richland County Commissioner Nathan Berseth, ND Petroleum Council Vice President and General Counsel Brady Pelton, ND Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives General Counsel Zac Smith and Greater ND Chamber CEO Arik Spencer.

A legislative panel discussion was canceled due to the icy roads making it impossible for several of the speakers to attend, which allowed attendees to get a head start on expected further bad weather and roads.