Williams County Sets Fee For Man-Camps -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

All man camps in Williams County will now be required to pay a permit fee, a move that is expected to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the county every year. However, exactly how many people are living in the temporary housing structures is still unknown.

The Williams County Commission approved a measure to charge $1.50 per square foot on man camps.

"The Crew Housing Permit Fee must be paid in full for all approved years prior to the building permit being issued and any improvements made to the site," according to the new guidelines.

Existing man camp owners will be pro rated for the fees dating back to May 1, Williams County Director of Tax Equalization Shawna Gooch-Egge said.

The question is not whether this is appropriate; the question is why was this not done sooner?

My understanding is that permanent hotels/motels pay an occupancy tax (see below), and almost everything that requires a permit, comes with a fee attached. The $1.50/square foot was based on hotel/motel occupancy tax rates to the best of my understanding and is a one time fee per the duration of the permit, which is generally two years for "temporary" man-camps.

Based on the size of the man-camp units, I assume the permit fee will be between $500 and $750, which on a 730-day basis works out to less than a dollar/day. The fee will help cover costs incurred by the county in services provided to the man-camps, including but not limited to: emergency response (fire and rescue; currently much of this is volunteer fire department); law enforcement; wear and tear on roads (should be covered by temporary license fees, but something tells me that isn't happening across the board); processing the permits; following up concerns voiced by residents; and so on.

For all intents and purposes the professional man-camps are run like hotels/motels and are in competition with the established hotels/motels. It appears that the fee helps level the playing field among the various lodging options.

I am a strong proponent of man-camps, and have no problem with a permit fee.

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Regarding lodging taxes in the state of North Dakota:

The governing body of any city may, by ordinance, impose a city tax, not to exceed 2%, upon the receipts from leasing or renting hotel and motel accommodations. A city may impose an additional 1% tax on lodging accommodations and on receipts from restaurant sales of prepared food or beverages.

Three percent of a $75 lodging bill works out to $2.25/night.