Sales tax in Bismarck rises to 1.5 percent

Anyone spending money in Bismarck will now paying a little bit extra. That's because of an increase in the city's sales tax.

As of April 1 the city's sales tax went from one to one and a half percent. The change, which was voted on as a ballot measure in last November's election, is being implemented to help fund road construction projects.

Chances are you've made some sort of purchase in the last two weeks. And if you did it at any business in Bismarck, your bill was a little bit higher.

“I think it's a good deal because everybody is paying for it, everybody uses the roads so everybody can pay for it,” Marilyn Marx of Dickinson said.

The change was approved by the city commission last year and then got the green light from voters in November.

City leaders are hoping the extra money can help fund road projects around town.

“I think we all see an increase in potholes and so I think it's important that we get them back up to speed every year,” Sandra Keller of Bismarck said.

And while it's a small change, from one to one and a half percent, some are noticing it already.

“We recently stayed at an area hotel and I noticed an increase in taxes although I didn't realize it was at the regular sales tax rate I thought it was part of a luxury tax,” Keller said.

Keller says she's happy to pay it because it has a 10 year sunset provision, which allows the increased tax rate to expire after 10 years.

The other part of the plan to help pay for road projects is capping the 25 mill property tax buy down at the 2019 level. That buy down comes out of the one cent sales tax.