Season 2 - Episode 20: House Property Tax

🚢 “Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.”

That might be the best way to describe where Iowa property tax reform is headed right now.

The House has its plan.
The Senate has a different one.
The Governor has another.

And the impact? Still unclear.

💬 Lower taxes or fewer local resources?
💬 Simpler system or more confusion?

🎥 Watch Episode 20 of Deciding Iowa for a quick breakdown then tell us what matters most to you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello, Bramer County and all of Iowa. I'm Dr. Sean Ellibric, and I'm a cancer scientist, biochem prof, and House District 57 candidate.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

And I'm Dr. Emily Bavers. I'm a physician, mama of three, and a health advocate.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

We recently discussed the Iowa Senate's property tax reform bill. The lower chamber has now passed their version, House Study Bill 596, out of committee.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

And if you recall, the Senate bill offered a soft 2% cap on revenue growth for local governments, meaning it could be formula adjusted to inflation.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

On the other hand, the House bill, similar to the governor's, offers a fixed 2% growth cap. This growth cap would not include voter-approved levy debt, such as uh community ticket on a new bond for a pool.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Right. Last episode we explained what a property rollback is and why the Senate wants to get rid of it. The House's bill leaves the rollback in place, but it does add an additional exemption of 10% or$25,000 of a property's value from taxation, whichever is less.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

You know, they stress wanting to make property tax more clear and transparent for you and me. Leaving the rollback does not make it more simple for Iowans and local officials.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Yeah. You know, the bill also requires council of government or COG groups to help local governments consolidate or share their services to find costs, cost savings regionally.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

You know, on one hand, I can see why the House wants the uh COG groups to promote communities to share services at a cost saving measure. I mean, sure. After all, my neighbor Ron and I started sharing a wheelbarrow about a decade ago. But distant communities forced to into EMS or fire department service sharing agreements at a cost uh as a cost savings measure because their cap budgets are being pretty much hammered by inflation. Well, that does not sound like improvement to me.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

This is the party of small government, right? Uh of note, the House Bill does not have a carve out for seniors, but the Senate's and the governor's bills do.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

And only the governor's bill creates a state-sponsored tax-deductible savings account similar to the state's 529 plan for first-time homeowners.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yeah. This fund could cover a down payment or a closing cost for a primary residence in the state using tax-deductible funds.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Reynolds plan is also unique in that it would allow County Board of Supervisors to appoint treasurers, auditors, and recorders rather than requiring them to be independently elected by voters.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Democracy, why? When looking at the differences between Reynolds and both chambers' property tax reform bills, it's really hard to predict what our final product might look like.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Yeah, well, and I'd say there are some good ideas and concepts in the various uh bills, but the tricky part as we discuss ad nauseum is how do we support tax relief for Iowans without further gutting the resources of our small communities.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Right. And I haven't found a projected property tax cost savings for either the House or the Senate bills. The governor's property tax relief plan touts a$3 billion savings over six years for the state of Iowa. Um, and as was stated by Kat Katarina Sostaric of Iowa Public Radio, that is also a three billion dollar city and county that that they would not be able to raise over the next six years to pay for local services.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

It's something we'll have to watch carefully. Well, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes. Until next time. Be well, Iowa.