Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — The owners of apartment and condo buildings are urging the Iowa House to reject a Senate plan that would raise taxes on their properties.
Multi‑family properties are currently taxed as residential property, but the Senate’s plan would create a new classification for apartments, condos, and assisted living facilities, applying a higher tax rate to those properties.
Kyle Gamble, president and CEO of Hubbell Realty, says it will lead to rent increases for at least 30 percent of Iowa residents who rent their housing.
Gamble spoke at a public hearing at the statehouse Tuesday morning.
A spokesman for community colleges told lawmakers that a higher property tax rate for apartments would have a big impact on college students. Kyle Vogel, who owns a condo in Iowa City that he rents out, is a spokesman for the Greater Iowa City Apartment Association.
Other developers told lawmakers it would be harder to secure loans to build apartments if those properties face a higher tax burden. Tony Jacobson spoke on behalf of Landlords of Iowa, which represents 800 landlords, as well as his local chapter in Fort Dodge.
Debbie Fisher, a senior advisor at Newbury Living, spoke on behalf of the Iowa Assisted Living Association. Fisher says the average age of residents in the nearly 500 certified assisted living communities in Iowa is 87.
Fisher says if taxes go up, rents will go up in assisted living communities and it will have a ripple effect. Older Iowans will stay in their single family homes longer and home buyers will have access to less inventory.
Fisher says that if taxes go up, rents will rise in assisted living communities, creating a ripple effect. She says higher costs could lead older Iowans to remain in their single‑family homes longer, reducing the amount of housing inventory available to prospective buyers.
KIWA Staff Photo
