Iowans Deserve Property Tax Relief

Excerpt from The Gazette and Quad-City Times, February 17th and 21st respectively

“In 1934, Iowa enacted the first sales and income taxes to provide property tax relief. Today, nearly a century later, Iowa taxpayers still face the challenge of high property taxes.

Between 2000 and 2017, Iowa property taxes increased by more than 100 percent, according to research from Iowans for Tax Relief. This increase is more than inflation and population (56 percent), Social Security cost of living adjustments (46 percent), and the growth of the state general fund (60 percent). The American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index” exposes Iowa’s property tax burden as the 16th highest in the nation. Concern about the reality of these escalating property tax bills supersedes the urban-rural divide and impacts all Iowans.

The best method to provide long-term property tax relief is to stop the overspending at the local level through a property tax cap and establish a strong truth in taxation measure.”

To read the article as published in The Gazette, click here; or, to read the article as in Quad-City Times