Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has approved a bill to prevent the statewide $133 million increase in residential property taxes that legislators say was the unintended consequence of a 2021 law.
The fix cleared the Senate February 1st and it passed the House on the 16th of February. Representative John Forbes of Urbandale is among the Democrats who say it’s unfair to city and county officials who’ve already built slightly bigger budget plans.
The bill gives cities and counties until April 30th to complete their spending plans for the budgeting year that begins July 1st. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton says that gives cities and counties an additional 30 days to redo budgets based on the new information about how much property taxes will be paid.
The glitch that’s being fixed was caused when lawmakers decided apartment buildings, nursing homes and mobile home parks would no longer be taxed like commercial property — but as residential property, starting this fall.
