Fargo apartment operating costs are driven by a handful of local line items: city water and sewer charges billed by volume, electricity and natural gas from Xcel Energy, which both had rate increases approved in 2026, and property taxes that treat buildings with four or more units as commercial property. A long, cold winter adds snow removal and heating costs that owners in milder markets never budget for.
This guide walks through each expense category with the rates and rules that apply in Fargo today, using the City of Fargo, Cass County, the North Dakota Legislature, the state Public Service Commission and NOAA as sources. Where a figure changes from year to year, the year is noted.
Fargo water and sewer charges for apartment buildings
The City of Fargo bills water by meter size and volume. According to the city’s water and sewer rate schedule, as posted in October 2026, each account pays a monthly base charge that covers the first 2,000 gallons:
- 5/8-inch meter: $10.40
- 1-inch meter: $28.75
- 1.5-inch meter: $41.50
- 2-inch meter: $64.35
- 3-inch meter: $130.50
- 4-inch meter: $214.60
- 6-inch meter: $429.80
Water above 2,000 gallons is billed on a declining block: $5.70 per 1,000 gallons up to 200,000 gallons, $5.45 per 1,000 from 200,001 to 2,000,000 gallons and $5.05 per 1,000 above that.
Sewer is where apartments differ from houses. Residential accounts pay a flat $25.00 a month, but commercial and multifamily accounts pay $2.55 per 1,000 gallons of water used, with a $25.00 monthly minimum. For a master-metered building, sewer therefore scales directly with water consumption.
A sample monthly water and sewer bill
To show how the schedule works, take a hypothetical building on a 2-inch meter that uses 120,000 gallons in a month. The water charge would be the $64.35 base plus 118,000 gallons at $5.70 per 1,000, or about $737. Sewer would add 120 thousand gallons at $2.55, or $306. The total of roughly $1,043 for the month, before any other city fees, gives a sense of why leak detection, low-flow fixtures and submetering get attention from Fargo owners.
Bills are due by the 20th day after the billing date. Water service can be shut off after an account is 15 days delinquent, and restoring service costs at least $50.
Garbage, recycling and other city fees
The City of Fargo collects commercial garbage itself inside city limits, using containers from two to eight cubic yards. The city notes that recycling can reduce container size and pickup frequency, which lowers the monthly charge.
Solid waste rates rose in 2026. The city’s final 2026 budget presentation, approved September 29, 2025, raised commercial collection rates from $131.69 to $150.77, an increase of about 14.5%, alongside increases in roll-off collection ($100 to $120) and landfill rates ($51 to $57). Residential waste rose from $9 to $10 and residential recycling from $4 to $5.
The city’s posted residential utility fees show the other monthly charges that appear on utility bills: storm sewer $8.00, street light $7.00, forestry $5.98, mosquito control $1.00 per unit and recycling $5.00. The page does not list separate multifamily versions of these fees, so owners should check how their own accounts are billed.
Proposed 2027 increases
City staff proposed further utility increases for 2027 in July 2026, totaling $14.77 a month for a typical residential account. The proposal included higher water and wastewater charges, a cut in the water base allowance from 2,000 to 1,500 gallons, a new Red River Valley Water Supply charge and a switch from declining-block to flat volumetric water pricing. The City Commission approved the 2027 budget on September 29, 2026, but owners should confirm the final 2027 utility rates with the city before budgeting, because the proposal may have changed before adoption.
Electricity and natural gas from Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy, operating in North Dakota as Northern States Power Co., provides electric and natural gas service in Fargo, one of its main hubs in the state. Both services had rate cases decided or underway in 2026.
- Electric: Xcel filed case 24-0376 with the North Dakota Public Service Commission on December 2, 2024, requesting a 19.34% increase. The case settled at 10.37% overall and 12.92% for residential customers, and the PSC approved it on February 5, 2026.
- Natural gas: Xcel filed case PU-26-52 on January 30, 2026, requesting an 11.93% increase. The PSC approved an interim increase of 10.66%, effective April 1, 2026, subject to refund while the case continues.
Details are in the PSC’s electric rate case filing. For apartment owners, the effect depends on what the owner pays directly. Buildings with central boilers or owner-paid common-area heat feel gas increases most; buildings where tenants pay their own electric and heat see the impact mainly in common-area lighting, laundry and vacant units.
How Fargo apartment buildings are taxed
North Dakota’s property tax formula has two steps. Assessed value is 50% of “true and full” (market) value. Taxable value is then 9% of assessed value for residential property and 10% for commercial property, which works out to 4.5% and 5% of market value. Property is assessed as of February 1 each year, and the City of Fargo’s assessor handles valuations inside the city.
The detail that matters most for apartment owners is classification. Under North Dakota Century Code chapter 57-02, the definition of residential property excludes structures with living accommodations for four or more separate family units. Apartment buildings with four or more units are therefore taxed as commercial property, at 5% of market value, while duplexes and triplexes stay residential at 4.5%.
Mill levies and the tax bill
The taxable value is multiplied by the combined mill levy of every taxing district. Fargo’s city levy in its 2026 budget is 57.36 mills, up 0.36 mill. The total depends heavily on school district: Cass County’s most recent published figures, for 2023, show combined levies of 296.60 mills for Fargo properties in the Fargo Public Schools district, 272.00 mills in the West Fargo district and 283.87 mills in the Kindred district. Cass County proposed adding 1.73 mills for 2026.
A hypothetical example: a building with a market value of $2.4 million has a taxable value of 5%, or $120,000. At the 2023 combined levy of 296.60 mills, the tax would be about $35,600 a year. Cass County offers a 5% discount for early payment; for 2025 taxes, payment by February 17, 2026 qualified, which would bring the example bill to about $33,800.
Relief that does not reach rentals
North Dakota’s 2025 property tax law, HB 1176, created a primary residence credit of up to $1,600 and a 3% annual cap on local levy increases, which voters can override. The credit applies only to an owner’s primary residence, one per household, so investor-owned apartment buildings do not qualify. Details are on the state’s primary residence credit page. Rental owners benefit from the levy cap, which limits how fast local levies can rise, but not from the credit itself.
Special assessments
Fargo funds projects such as water main replacement and flood protection through special assessments spread over the properties that benefit. The city treats them as separate from property taxes, but the annual installment appears on the tax statement, so buyers and owners should review the assessment balance on any building, not just the general tax.
Winter, snow and flood exposure
Fargo’s climate is a cost driver in its own right. NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for the Fargo airport station show:
- An average January temperature of 9.2°F, with an average January low of 0.2°F.
- An average winter (December–February) temperature of 12.8°F.
- About 51.4 inches of snow a year.
- About 8,806 heating degree days a year.
Those numbers translate into heating fuel, snow removal contracts, ice-melt, roof and gutter maintenance and wear on parking lots. They also make insulation, window quality and boiler efficiency more valuable than in warmer markets.
Sidewalk snow rules
Fargo requires owners or occupants to clear snow and ice from sidewalks within 24 hours after snowfall ends. According to the city’s snow removal responsibilities page, if a sidewalk is still uncleared 24 hours after a complaint inspection, a city contractor clears it and bills the owner. Pushing snow into the street can bring a fine of up to $500. For apartment buildings, that means a reliable snow contract or on-site staff is a fixed winter expense.
The flood diversion
The Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion is a 30-mile channel built to protect the metro from Red River flooding. It is estimated to cost about $3.2 billion, with $850 million in state funding and the rest from sales taxes, low-interest loans and federal and state sources. The river was rerouted through the project’s control structure on August 7, 2025, and the diversion authority expects substantial completion in 2027. Once it is operating, the authority plans to ask FEMA to revise flood maps and remove flood insurance requirements for protected areas. That has not happened yet, so owners in mapped flood zones should keep budgeting for flood insurance until new maps take effect.
Codes and inspections
Fargo adopted the 2024 International Codes, covering building, residential, property maintenance, energy, mechanical, fuel gas and existing buildings, effective July 2, 2025. The 2023 National Electrical Code took effect July 1, 2024. Renovation work on older buildings is permitted and inspected against these editions.
Rental properties face two recurring inspections:
- Rental housing inspections. Fargo runs a largely proactive inspection program under its property maintenance code, scheduling inspections by letter using addresses from county tax records. Owners are asked to record each rental with the Inspections Department at no cost; there is no fee-based rental license. Under the fee schedule effective July 7, 2025, the first inspection and first re-inspection are free, and the second and later re-inspections cost $150 each. Common violations involve smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, deadbolts, handrails, egress and ventilation.
- Fire inspections. The Fargo Fire Department inspects commercial businesses every year and apartment buildings every other year.
The re-inspection fee structure rewards owners who fix items the first time. A building that fails repeatedly pays $150 per visit on top of the repair costs.
A calendar of Fargo cost events
Many of these costs arrive on a predictable schedule, which makes them easier to plan around. Using the dates in the sources above, a typical year for a Fargo owner looks like this:
- February 1: assessment date. The city assessor values property as of this date, so the condition of a building on February 1 drives the next tax bill.
- Mid-February: early-payment deadline. For 2025 taxes, paying by February 17, 2026 earned Cass County’s 5% discount.
- Winter months: snow season. Sidewalks must be cleared within 24 hours after every snowfall, and heating loads peak; January averages 9.2°F.
- Spring: flood season. Until the diversion is complete and flood maps change, spring Red River flooding remains a risk to plan for.
- April 1, 2026: interim natural gas increase took effect, subject to refund once the PSC rules on the full case.
- Late September: the City Commission adopts the next year’s budget, which carries the coming year’s utility and solid waste rates (the 2026 budget was approved September 29, 2025, and the 2027 budget on September 29, 2026).
- December: tax statements are mailed; 2025 statements went out December 12, 2025.
Lining up the operating budget with that calendar helps owners avoid surprises, for example by reserving cash for the property tax payment in the first quarter and for snow removal across the winter.
State landlord rules that shape costs
North Dakota law also limits some levers owners might use elsewhere. Under N.D.C.C. 47-16-02.1, cities may not enact or enforce rent control on private residential property, so Fargo owners can adjust rents to cover rising expenses. Security deposits are generally capped at one month’s rent and must be held in a federally insured interest-bearing account, and pet deposits are capped at the greater of $2,500 or two months’ rent. Those deposit limits affect how much of a turnover repair bill a deposit can cover.
Budgeting Fargo apartment operating costs: key takeaways
Putting the line items together, a few points stand out for anyone preparing a budget:
- Treat property tax as a commercial-class expense. At 5% of market value times combined levies near 300 mills (2023 figures), taxes are often one of the largest fixed costs, and both valuation and special assessment reviews deserve attention.
- Model utilities by volume. Sewer for multifamily accounts scales with water use, so a single running toilet or leaking pipe raises two charges at once.
- Plan for higher energy costs. Electric rates rose about 10% overall in 2026, and gas rates rose under an interim increase that could still be adjusted.
- Budget winter as its own category. Snow contracts, sidewalk compliance within 24 hours and heating loads of roughly 8,800 degree days a year are recurring, not occasional, costs.
- Watch the 2027 utility rates and the diversion. Final 2027 city rates and future FEMA map changes could each move a building’s expense line.
To see how changes in any of these lines flow through to net operating income, owners can plug their own figures into our NOI calculator. More local context, including how Skyline Capital looks at buildings in the city, is on our Fargo market page, and other cities in the state are covered on our North Dakota market overview.
