Area property owners are watching both the Iowa House and Senate as property tax relief bills have made their way through both chambers.
On Wednesday, April 19, the Iowa House passed House File 718 to provide over $200 million in property tax relief for Iowans. The bill makes a number of reforms to provide property owners with immediate relief as well as certainty for their future tax bills.
Representative Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton) led the bill through the Iowa House.
“The current system is complicated and provides very little transparency and no certainty for taxpayers,” Kaufmann said. “I don’t think there’s a single legislator that hasn’t heard the call for property tax reforms and reductions. Iowans – we have heard you. We’ve heard that the tax you need us to address most is property taxes. We got to work and this bill delivers the relief and certainty that you need.”
HF 718 makes the following reforms:
- Reduces the 5.40 levy by $1 and has the state fund the difference. This will deliver more than $200 million in real, immediate tax relief to Iowans.
- Caps annual property tax increases per parcel to 3% for residential and agricultural properties and 8% for commercial and industrial properties.
- Increases transparency in the process by requiring tax bills to look like an itemized receipt, including information on where the money is going.
- Moves all elections for bonding to every November.
“The Iowa Legislature has done great work the past few years lowering income taxes for Iowans,” Speaker Pat Grassley said. “With House Republicans representing all 99 of Iowa’s 99 counties, we are in a better position than ever to listen to the concerns of Iowans. This session we made our property tax relief bill House File 1, as it is a top priority for our caucus and for Iowans.
While property taxes are complicated to reform, I am very proud of the work Representative Kaufmann and the Ways and Means committee have done to pass a bill that is effective and easy for Iowans to understand.”
House File 718 passed the Iowa House with a bipartisan vote of 93-1. The two chambers will begin negotiations to finalize a relief bill for Governor Kim Reynolds to consider.
