Becoming Less Like New York City

Did you know Iowa’s commercial and industrial property taxes are on par with downtown New York City? In fact, we have the second highest property taxes in the nation! Our property tax system has become a huge impediment to job creation and business growth in Iowa.

The simple truth is that property tax reform is long overdue, as substantial changes to our system have not been made in decades. Without action this year, hardworking Iowa taxpayers will experience a $1.3 billion dollar increase. I think you will agree, this is unacceptable.

The good news is that legislative Democrats have finally joined legislative Republicans in the talking about property tax relief. Now we just need to take action.

Both parties have proposals but most of the details are still being worked out. However, this provides a brief overview of the philosophical differences between the two parties on property tax relief.

Republican Philosophy
Aggressive broad based property tax relief that benefits all classes of property
Gradual annual roll back so Iowans are consistently being taxed at a smaller percentage of their property valuations each year
Make tax relief automatic and provide fewer bureaucratic headaches
Cap local government spending and provide some financial assistance to local governments over the next several years to help residential taxpayers from receiving a raw deal

Democrat Philosophy
Limited tax credits that allows for the picking of winners and losers
Little or no focus on a property tax roll back will mean higher taxes as property valuations rise
Require a handwritten application in order to receive consideration
No limit on the growth of local government spending and no approach to stop the anticipated growth of residential property taxes

Clearly, Iowans expect both parties to work together.

Senate Republicans remain optimistic that a common sense solution can be found that will help re-open Iowa for job creation and career development. Our state is filled with unlimited potential and authentic and aggressive property tax reform would allow us to realize our opportunities sooner rather than later.

We do not want to be like New York City. We want to be competitive. We need property tax reform. Let’s make it happen.

As always, I welcome hearing from you and can be reached by phone at 515-281-3560 or by e-mail at Jerry.Behn@legis.iowa.gov

Jerry Behn

Senate Republican Leader
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