Rita Hart

Property tax reform has been a pressing issue for years.

Iowans are facing higher costs on nearly every front and are desperate for relief. Property values have skyrocketed, and property taxes have risen along with them, while our cost of living keeps rising by the day.

While every homeowner is interested in lower tax bills, Iowans also recognize the importance of taking the burden off those with fixed or lower incomes.

The Iowa legislature has made progress on high property taxes with a new set of reforms passed just this year, but county and municipal officials are concerned that we balance tax relief with the stability of our services, both rural and urban.

Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for many communities and fund fire stations, police departments, sanitation services, and more. Those aren’t things any Iowan should or would want to part with.

Having lower property taxes on your house is useless if there’s no one to save your home when it burns down, gets broken into, or if there’s no one to pick up the garbage on the side of the street. You get the idea.

While we are all hopeful that the tax reforms the state legislature passed this year are going to result in a fairer and more effective property tax system, it’s important to acknowledge that local leaders across the state have voiced their concerns about how this could impact their budgets. Governor Reynolds has stated that local governments will have to be more “efficient and effective” after her property tax cuts go through.

This is obviously an attempt to preemptively shift the blame to local communities when they’re unable to make ends meet. They’re going to have to be more “efficient and effective,” because Reynolds is hamstringing one of their largest sources of income.

A delicate balance has to be struck. Part of the discussion has to be on how communities can fund the services that residents need and want.

The people of Iowa need relief from the everyday costs of living. That relief must come through a real solution, one that’s honest about its effects on the communities it affects and on those who end up paying for it.

We have a chance to be at the forefront of property tax reform in this country, but that’s only if we elect new leaders who are willing to champion it. This November, I think we have just that chance.

Rita Hart is the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party.