When talking with Iowans, we frequently hear concerns and frustrations about the growth of their local property taxes. Just recently, Iowa taxpayers began receiving new property assessments with many seeing increases of 10% or more.
Residential property taxes have increased by 19.01% since fiscal year 2015 while the Midwest Consumer Price Index has increased by 3.72% over the same time.
In short, HSB 165 establishes strong taxpayer protections and transparency measures while also ensuring local governments can continue to meet the critical needs of their citizens. HSB 165 will slow the dramatic growth of property taxes while also providing local property taxpayers with more transparency in how they are taxed and how their tax dollars are used.
Oftentimes, local governments ride a wave of increased property valuations without reducing the tax rate levies accordingly. This means that when assessments go up 10%, but the levy is unchanged, property owners are faced with a 10% tax increase.
HSB165 allows local governments to balance the budgetary needs by adjusting the levies. This bill puts a soft cap of 2% on annual budget growth for local governments. This is a reasonable limit that takes into account the needs of cities and counties with both growing and declining populations.
HSB 165 empowers taxpayers to reverse excessive budget increases that aren’t supported by local residents through a vote of the public. Local governments can still increase their budget by more than 2%, if necessary.
However, a city council or county board of supervisors must take a public vote to do so. If taxpayers see the need for the increase and support it, nothing happens and the increase goes into effect. If taxpayers don’t support this increase, they can collect signatures and call a referendum to reduce the increase to 2%. If the local residents see the need for a higher budget increase, they will support it at the ballot box.
HSB 165 will not hamstring local governments from providing core services that citizens depend on or from meeting obligations.
Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund: $200 million invested in fiscal year 2020 to improve infrastructure at state facilities and Regent universities, $24 million invested in major and routine maintenance to ensure safe state buildings and facilities, $17.5 million to make technology upgrades at state departments to ensure modern and efficient government, $5 million for the Broadband Grant Program to increase access to high-speed internet in rural Iowa, $2 million invested in recreational trails to improve quality of life for Iowans and attract new residents, and $1 million to study the possibility of moving the State Historical Museum to the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Administration and Regulation: $2 million to update and improve the Department of Revenue's systems to ensure efficiency and security for taxpayers, $4.7 million to ensure safe health facilities like hospitals and nursing homes through inspections and licensing, $575,000 to fund food safety inspections at restaurants and grocery stores to protect consumers, $2.6 million to fund the Child Advocacy Board which represents the interests of abused and neglected children,$75,000 funding increase to support the Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program to protect survivors of abuse, and $18 million to fund IPERS administration which provides retirements benefits to hundreds of thousands of Iowans.
The Health and Human Services budget is being debated today. Here are some highlights of the plan: It funds the Medicaid program which provides health coverage to thousands of low-income and disabled Iowans, invests significant resources in mental health services and provider training, makes child care more affordable for low-income families, and reduces caseloads for DHS social workers. Once it is passed by the House, it goes to the Senate for debate and approval.
HF 647, now HF768, was passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee and is awaiting full consideration by the House in the final days of session. HF 768 restructures/reinstates the beginning farmer tax credit program that was originally created in 2007 and significantly amended in 2013 with provisions that included automatic sunset of some provisions added in 2013. It was then modified by 2014 legislation with the automatic repeal occurring on January 1, 2018.
This legislation reinstates a restructured form of the ag asset transfer tax credits program, but renames it the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program. However, it does not reestablish the custom farming contract tax credits that expired on Jan. 1, 2018.