Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — Bills to overhaul Iowa’s property tax system were developed, but not adopted during the now-concluded 2025 Iowa legislature. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the goal now is to act in 2026.
Grassley says lawmakers in the past have put minor band-aids on the property tax system, so he and others working on a comprehensive approach want to ensure an adjustment in one area doesn’t create problems in other areas.
Representative Bobby Kaufmann, the Republican who leads the House Ways and Means Committee, says lawmakers will spend the next eight months perfecting the plan that’s already gone through several adjustments.
Senator Dan Dawson, the Republican who leads the Senate Ways and Means Committee, says lawmakers are on the right path and getting close to a final version. He says the key component is a limit on how much local government budgets can increase yearly.
House Speaker Grassley says lawmakers basically have two choices to make when it comes to property tax reform.
Grassley made his comments during an appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS. House Democrats have proposed one-thousand-dollar property tax rebates for all Iowa homeowners and five-hundred-dollar rebates for renters over the next few years to give lawmakers time to develop a true overhaul of the system. Senate Democrats say they’re concerned schools will be shortchanged in the future since the plan calls for the state to provide 400 million more each year to Iowa’s public school districts.
