Last week marked another busy week for legislators following the funnel, as bills continue to be amended, discussions progress in subcommittees, and debates are held on the floor. Greater IC continues to monitor issues that impact our business community, including multiple property tax reform bills.
Property Taxes
Last week, legislators held a subcommittee on the Governor’s proposed property tax bill (SSB 3034 / HSB 563). The main components of the bill include:
- Local government revenue cap of 2%, with exceptions to school funding, new construction, and debt service
- Freeze on property tax bills for seniors who live in homes valued at $350,000 or less
- One-time grant fund of $10 million available to local governments to aid and incentive service consolidations
- Extension of the property tax assessment cycle from two years to three years
- Placement of a 20-year limit on new TIF district designations
- Shift from county officers being citizen-elected to appointed by county supervisors
City leaders from across Iowa came to speak on behalf of local governments, expressing appreciation for resources like the one-time fund but still citing concerns over limits to growth and the ability to keep pace with inflation, particularly when it comes to the provisions on Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Both the House and Senate have also released their own property tax bills, (HSB 596) and (SSB 3001), which include further changes to the homestead tax credit, state rollback system, $5.40 school levy, and more.
Both legislators and community members stated they will continue to engage in discussion in the coming weeks to work towards a solution that relieves taxpayers while still ensuring that local governments are able to deliver essential services and maintain growth. TIF remains a valuable tool for economic development and revitalizing cities, and Greater IC recognizes the importance of this issue to our stakeholdersand to our Strategic Investment District work. We will continue to advocate for TIF and provide updates throughout the session.
Other notable bills that advanced are:
- HF 2514 – This bill allows children of childcare workers to be eligible for the state’s childcare assistance program. It has passed out of the House.
- HF 2528 – This bill makes changes to the Iowa Workforce Development Department regarding the creation of a comprehensive initiative to address the state’s cyber and AI workforce needs. It has passed out of committee.
If you are interested in speaking to legislators one-on-one about these or other issues, we encourage you to join us for our final legislative forum of this session:
March Legislative Forum
Friday, March 13
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
MERGE, Iowa City
Register Here
