Larry Gauper: Diversion Benefits Widespread

To the Editor:
Although Fargo has a number of those areas “closest to the river” that John Strand mentioned in his editorial regarding a proposed sales tax, it’s well worth it to the hinterland to help save Fargo from major flooding.

Without Fargo, there would be no Horace, no Harwood, no West Fargo—certainly as we know these bedroom communities today—and the same can be said about countless other small towns close to the Fargo-Moorhead area on both sides of the Red. In fact, arguably, Fargo is the economic engine for this region and much of the entire state of North Dakota, save for some of the energy industry production and development out west.

Most people who move from Fargo to rural communities do so to avoid the higher taxes Fargo homeowners pay. But they wouldn’t have jobs if it weren’t for Fargo and they apparently love and use the amenities of the larger city, from higher education to medical services to dog parks (most of which are tax-exempt, leaving the bill for city services to Fargo home and business owners). Without participation—through a sales tax—or some other kind of county or regional assessment—the entire burden of a long list of “free” services Fargo brings to the region is left to the Fargo property tax payer.

While Strand’s editorial raises some valid points regarding a sales tax being regressive, I believe this type of taxation is probably the fairest in the sense that it spreads participation beyond just home or business owners in Fargo or Cass County. And the more people spend, i.e. those with the dough, the more tax those folks pay. To me, the question of regression has more to do with people opting to shop elsewhere, including online. That, of course, can hurt Fargo businesses and can indeed be regressive.

And where is Moorhead in all of this funding talk? Hopefully they’ll be at the table. Dilworth didn’t want to put up with the less expensive way of doing a diversion—not in my backyard!—so the ND accommodation should be funded at a much higher level than had the diversion ran through their community.
Both Moorhead and Clay County will benefit from a ND diversion but, even more extensively, so will West Fargo, Harwood, and other communities along the Sheyenne and Red. Think of the new area of economic development a ND project will open up on West Fargo’s western frontier, much as that community’s Charleswood area was born with the Sheyenne diversion.

If West Fargoans think they’ve paid enough already for flood management, they should bear this in mind: a ND diversion will help alleviate the annual flooding at Harwood, since West Fargo’s current diversion waters pour into that community. West Fargo will now have an opportunity to financially help clean-up the mess on the northern end of the metro, a negative situation they didn’t seem care one twit about when they built their diversion.