SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - AUGUST 16, 2013
“State coffers are overflowing” into “a quirky, idiosyncratic system for allocation.” -- Quotes from the “fedgazette,” a newspaper of the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis. The July issue is largely devoted to the ND oil boom. It discusses oil tax revenue -- ND’s severance tax alone is projected to top $5 billion during the 2013-15 biennium. An elaborate system of spending and saving is also dissected. General fund spending for the biennium just ended is estimated around $4 billion and spending for the 2013-15 biennium is projected to be over $7 billion.
But large sums are also being saved, the relatively new Legacy Fund is projected to reach $3 billion at the end of fiscal year 2015; the older Common Schools Trust Fund already has $2.4 billion. The July issue also discusses the impact of the boom on employment and population, and compares ND’s oil tax rates to those of other oil producing states.
Here we come! ND’s average annual wage of $46,000 is still below the national average of $49,000, but the gap is closing fast. Western oil and coal counties take ND’s top ten spots -- the other 43 counties are below the state average. Williams (Williston) is the top county with an average of $78,000; Sheridan the lowest at $26,000 -- that’s a 3:1 ratio. You may want to avoid Lawrence Welk Country -- it does not pay well -- McIntosh and Logan counties are among those with average wages less than $30,000.
Richard Gardner, a consultant on energy development, thinks ND should be concerned about the "Dutch disease," a phenomenon where oil activity crowds out lower wage jobs. He says, "The perverse result is an energy county can end up less diverse (economically) at the end than a non-oil county."
“If the farm bill leaves me alone, I’m OK.” -- A Minnesota hog producer with a typically blasé reaction to the absence of a federal farm bill. Farm leaders are dismayed by the apathy. Farmers are doing well and many seem content to let matters work themselves out.
The Herald published an interview with Minnesota State Rep. Deb Kiel of Crookston. Kiel’s remarks were partisan, but nevertheless drew a shocking picture of tax increases in every nook and cranny in Minnesota. Kiel said experts at the state’s Dept. of Revenue say taxpayers in every bracket, not just the wealthy, will pay more. She said “More spending doesn’t necessarily mean wiser spending.”
Chancellor Hamid Shirvani left the ND University System; he also left scathing evaluations of certain college presidents. Larry Skogen, himself president of Bismarck State, became acting chancellor and almost immediately issued new and more cheerful evaluations of his fellow presidents. It didn’t look good. Herald publisher Mike Jacobs wrote: “How can Skogen review the performance of other presidents so quickly and so favorably? He has no direct knowledge of conditions on any of the campuses other than his own.” Jacobs hopes the Board of Higher Education will use good sense in the search for a new chancellor.
“These are the arcane instruments of public finance.” -- Mike Jacobs set out to explain the sleight of hand used by the GF School District to slip by a proposed 29% increase in public school property tax. The increase is camouflaged by a state property tax relief measure. Jacobs was unsparing -- he said the School District “sought to take advantage of local taxpayers.”
Tom Dennis took a break at the GF Herald and Publisher Mike Jacobs slipped into his seat at the editorial desk. The usually moderate Jacobs wrote some editorials that were, well, stinging. Has something changed? Perhaps a Herald June announcement gives us a clue -- the release indicated Jacobs “plans to step down at the end of March.” Jacobs is the dean of the ND press corps -- he has a deep sense of the state and its history. His voice will be missed.
A ND obituary can be short and sweet. James Sperling (62) married Cindy Kungel -- his obituary included this mention: “They made their home in Lehr until 1992 when they parted ways.”
"When I think of North Dakota I think of perseverance, kind of a building block of your society." -- Murad Al-Katib, president and founder of United Pulse Trading, describing the traits that drew his company to ND. His new $30 million Minot plant will process pulse crops such as lentils and chickpeas.
“Semper Fi” -- With that phrase, Jack Hoeven accepted a Marine Corps flag presented by the Minot Area Development Corporation. Hoeven is a longtime Minot business leader and the father of U.S. Senator John Hoeven. The son spoke at MADC’s annual meeting.
Snowmobile gangs? How do outlaw motorcycle gangs travel in ND when the weather is blizzardy and the temperature 20 below? I don’t know the answer, but do know that U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon considers motorcycle gangs a growing problem in western ND, and the FBI and ATF are stationing more agents there. “It’s unprecedented, and among the reasons you’re seeing that is the increase in criminal activity including outlaw motorcycle gangs,” Purdon said. The gang receiving the most attention in ND is the sneaky Sons of Silence gang. The gangs are involved in drugs and prostitution.
South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the poorest and most notorious in the nation, voted narrowly to permit alcohol sales on the reservation. Presently, tribal members scoot across the border into Nebraska to buy booze, lots of it. The town of Whiteclay, Nebraska (pop. 12) sells around 500 cases of beer a day to tribal members. The reservation wants the profits from those alcohol sales. The Oglala Sioux have 43,000 members of which 26,000 live on the reservation. Slightly more than 3,000 voted in the election.
The Fargo Forum has good reason to be proud of growth in its area, so why act envious? The Forum considers F-M growth “steady and reliable,” but calls western ND growth merely a “boom-bust” cyle.
Score one for the Forum. The paper indicated its Editorial Page Editor Jack Zaleski would rant on a new video blog. Promise kept.
In a familiar scene, Ryan Taylor waved his large cowboy hat to rally the state Democratic convention. The Towner cowboy expressed “disbelief and sadness” at the failure of the Republican controlled legislature to address Oil Patch problems. Taylor ran for governor in 2012 and had a lopsided loss. His strategy now is to tap discontent in western counties.
DAKTOIDS: Distributions made to local governments by the state are often based on population determined by the most recent census. Columnist Lloyd Omdahl recommends that four Oil Patch counties pay for a special census in 2015 to improve their distributions . . . For years, the Devils Lake Basin has been fighting floods -- $1.5 billion was thrown into the fight. The uncertainty discouraged business investment. Today, confidence is rising and the city of Devils Lake is rebounding with residential, commercial and manufacturing growth.
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