North Dakota

Decision instrument

Bonds over $2 million must be secured by a first mortgage. Bonds on a state-owned utility stop at $10 million.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? North Dakota Constitution, Article X, Section 13. The mortgage on real estate may not exceed 65% of its value. A mortgage on the property of a state-owned utility, enterprise, or industry may not exceed the value of that property, and those bonds may not exceed $10 million. Any other debt has to be a bond issue, authorized by law for a defined purpose. The law must provide for the interest twice a year and the principal within 30 years, and that appropriation cannot be repealed until both are paid. A debt over that limit is allowed only to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, defend the state in war, or meet threatened hostilities.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? State debt is in the annual report for the year ended June 30, 2025. County dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A county, city, township, or school district stops at 5% of assessed value. Bonds over the limit are void.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Constitution, Article X, Sections 15 and 16. An incorporated city may add 3% by a two-thirds vote. A school district may add 5% by a majority vote. A city may add 4% for waterworks or sewers without regard to debt already outstanding, and for no other purpose. A county or city may, by a majority vote, issue bonds on a revenue-producing utility it owns, not over the physical value of that utility. Those utility bonds are left out of the 5%. Before the debt is incurred, the subdivision must provide an annual tax for the interest and the principal. That law cannot be repealed until the debt is paid.

Conflict rule

A public servant who is authorized to make a contract may not become interested in that contract. It is a Class A misdemeanor.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? North Dakota Century Code § 12.1-13-03. Section 48-01.2-08 says a member, employee, or appointee of a governing body may not be pecuniarily interested in a public-improvement contract paid with public funds. In a city of 10,000 or more, § 40-13-05 says a municipal officer may not be directly or indirectly interested in a contract, work, or business of the city. The other members may unanimously find, and write in the minutes, that the work or property is not otherwise available at equal cost. That finding is the exception. It is not the rule for every city.

Geography

Fifty-three counties.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? FIPS 38001 through 38105. Cities, townships, and school districts also borrow. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

No general obligation bonds. Governmental revenue-bond principal: $709.8 million.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Annual report, June 30, 2025. The debt-service schedule’s principal, before premium, is $709,820,000. Unamortized premium is $12,627,000. The report’s bonds-payable line, with that premium, is $722,447,000. Of that line, the Building Authority is $70,926,000 and the Legacy bond fund is $651,521,000. The year began at $754,697,000. Reductions were $32,250,000. Nothing was issued. The report says this debt is not backed by the full faith and credit of the state.

Who pays the coupon

Not the full faith and credit of the state. In fiscal 2026 the principal due is $32.2 million and the interest due is $24.8 million.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? Revenue-bond principal and interest are payable only from the issuing agency’s program income. The Legacy bonds are limited obligations of the Public Finance Authority, payable from funds the Legislative Assembly appropriates. Principal and interest still to be paid on the Legacy bonds are $883.3 million, through June 2041. Interest still on the whole governmental schedule is $245.2 million. This pass did not split the fiscal 2026 payment between the Building Authority and the Legacy bonds.

Other obligors

Housing Finance homeownership bonds: $2.464 billion. Do not add them to the $709.8 million.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? Those bonds are a direct obligation of the Housing Finance Agency, secured by the mortgage loans. They sit inside business-type bonds payable of $2.797 billion, which includes $28.8 million of premium. The University System’s revenue bonds are about $331 million of that business-type total. The Student Loan Trust has $1 million left. Certificates of participation, subject to annual appropriation, are $247.2 million. The Bank of North Dakota records $480 million of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank, secured by loans. A component-unit Public Finance Authority has $548.7 million of revenue bonds, and the Transmission Authority has $133.9 million. None of those is governmental revenue-bond principal.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.