A highway tax distribution fund is created as a special fund in the state treasury into which must be deposited the moneys available by law from collections of motor vehicle registration and related fees, fuels taxes, special fuels taxes, use taxes, and special fuels excise taxes. The state treasurer shall transfer the first five million five hundred thousand dollars per biennium from the highway tax distribution fund to the state highway fund for the purpose of providing administrative assistance to other transferees. After the transfer of the first five million five hundred thousand dollars, any moneys in the highway tax distribution fund must be allocated and transferred monthly by the state treasurer, as follows:

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 54-27-19

  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute means the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • population: means the number of inhabitants as determined by the last preceding state or federal census. See North Dakota Code 1-01-47
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49

1.    Sixty-one and three-tenths percent must be transferred monthly to the state department of transportation and placed in a state highway fund.

2.    Two and seven-tenths percent must be transferred monthly to the township highway fund.

3.    One and five-tenths percent must be transferred monthly to the public transportation fund.

4.    Thirty-four and five-tenths percent must be allocated to the counties of this state in proportion to the number of vehicle registrations credited to each county. Each county must be credited with the certificates of title of vehicles registered by residents of the county. The state treasurer shall compute and distribute the counties’ share monthly after deducting the incorporated cities’ share. All the moneys received by the counties from the highway tax distribution fund must be set aside in a separate fund called the “highway tax distribution fund” and must be appropriated and applied solely for    highway purposes in accordance with section 11 of article X of the Constitution of North Dakota. The state treasurer shall compute and distribute monthly the sums allocated to the incorporated cities within each county according to the formulas in this subsection using the incorporated cities’ populations as determined by the last official regular or special federal census or the census taken in accordance with the provisions of chapter 40-02 in case of a city incorporated subsequent to the census.

a.    For counties having no cities with a population of ten thousand or more, twenty- seven percent of the total county allocation must be distributed to all of the incorporated cities within the county on a countywide per capita basis. The remaining county allocation amount must be transferred into the county highway tax distribution fund.

b.    For each county having a city with a population of ten thousand or more, the amount transferred each month into the county highway tax distribution fund must be the difference between the amount allocated to that county pursuant to this subsection and the total amount allocated and distributed to the incorporated cities in that county as computed according to the following formula:

(1) A statewide per capita average as determined by calculating twenty-seven percent of the amount allocated to all of the counties under this subsection divided by the total population of all of the incorporated cities in the state.

(2) The share distributed to each city in the county having a population of less than one thousand must be determined by multiplying the population of that city by the product of 1.50 times the statewide per capita average computed under paragraph 1.

(3) The share distributed to each city in the county having a population of one thousand to four thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, inclusive, must be determined by multiplying the population of that city by the product of 1.25 times the statewide per capita average computed under paragraph 1.

(4) The share distributed to each city in the county having a population of five thousand or more must be determined by multiplying the population of that city by the statewide per capita average for all such cities, which per capita average must be computed as follows: the total of the shares computed under paragraphs 2 and 3 for all cities in the state having a population of less than five thousand must be subtracted from the total incorporated cities’ share in the state as computed under paragraph 1 and the balance remaining must then be divided by the total population of all cities of five thousand or more in the state.

5.    The moneys allocated to the incorporated cities must be distributed to them monthly by the state treasurer and must be deposited by the cities in a separate fund and may only be used in accordance with section 11 of article X of the Constitution of North Dakota and an incorporated city may use the fund for the construction, reconstruction, repair, and maintenance of public highways within or outside the city pursuant to an agreement entered into between the city and any other political subdivision as authorized by section 54-40-08.