Fargo property owners said 'yes' to diversion assessment but most others said 'no'

WEST FARGO - The vote from property owners affected by the Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion special assessment may have been mostly negative throughout Cass County, but it was mostly positive in Fargo and two other areas, according to figures released Thursday by the Cass County Joint Water Resource District.

Of the 120 million votes cast by all affected Cass County property owners, 48 percent were "yes" votes and 52 percent were "no" votes. The opposite was true in Fargo where, of the 100 million votes cast, 52 percent were "yes" votes and 48 percent were "no" votes.

Property owners in many other places were overwhelmingly opposed. In West Fargo, of the 6 million votes cast, 18 percent were "yes" votes and 82 percent were "no" votes. In Horace, of the 930,000 votes cast, 14 percent were "yes" votes and 86 percent were "no" votes.

The assessment did, however, pass because local governments, primarily Cass County and the city of Fargo, had more votes than all property owners. Their votes represented the indirect benefit that all county residents enjoy from having hospitals and workplaces protected by the proposed $1.8 billion flood diversion.

Of the 481 million votes cast by local governments, 90 percent were "yes" votes and 10 percent were "no."

Local governments that voted differently than their property owners included:

• Barnes Township property owners voted 54 percent "yes," but township supervisors voted "no."

• Harwood property owners voted 74 percent "no," but city leaders voted "yes."

• North River property owners voted 87 percent "no," but city leaders voted "yes."

• Reed Township property owners voted 57 percent "no," but township supervisors voted "yes."

Each vote represents the dollar amount of assessment a property owner is liable for. Homeowners may have a few thousand votes, but major businesses could have millions of votes.

The water district expects to use the assessment as a guarantee to get lower interest rates from investors in financing the local share of the diversion project. Cass County and the city of Fargo have promised they'll repay investors with their sales taxes and the assessment will likely never be levied.

This story has been corrected. There was an error in the percentage of "yes" and "no" votes in Cass County.