Legislative Republicans released a plan yesterday to reform property taxes. It wasn’t difficult for reporters to find critics of the plan, but I think it’s important to point out that backers of the bill have their hearts and minds in the right place. They hear taxpayers saying very clearly that they need tax relief. They also know that a fair and competitive property tax structure is necessary for Iowa to attract and retain jobs.
Of course, I approach the property tax issue from the perspective that cities and counties are required to provide essential services – police, fire, public works, jails, the prosecution of criminals and maintaining social services to mention just some. Taxpayers don’t just want us to do an adequate job; they expect and deserve services to be delivered well above “adequately.”
I don’t believe any of our legislators are looking for those services to go away – or that we do a less than adequate job – but I do think they sometimes lose sight of the heavy responsibilities that cities and counties have. As a result, they sometimes end up passing laws that have unintended consequences.
It’s a tall order to expect legislators to reform property taxes this late into the session, especially with adjournment scheduled for Friday. A better approach would be for state officials to bring some cities and counties to the table so they can avoid the law of unintended consequences when as they put together meaningful reform for the 2012 session of the General Assembly. I realize we already have enough studies on property tax reform to erect a small two-story building, but this really is not rocket science and if there is a real desire for reform it could be done in a matter of weeks.
You can bet that I’m going to work closely with members of Polk County’s legislative delegation to ensure that our best interests are represented and included in future legislation to make our state economy more competitive through a fairer property tax system.
