Legislature eyes property tax relief for Iowans

     A legislative forum was held on Friday, March 28, at the Anamosa Public Library. The room was full with over 50 people in attendance.

   Both Senator Carrie Koelker and Representative Steve Bradley fielded questions during the hour-long forum. The majority of the questions focused on public education funding and property tax relief for Iowans.

   "We cut your taxes 3.8 percent. Now we're working on cutting property taxes," offered Bradley. "That's what we talk about every single week."

   Koelker provided a background that led the Iowa Legislature to this point, noting that "77 percent of Iowans are screaming property tax relief."

   She said years ago, Iowa was in a deficient, the red, when it came to the state budget.

   "Since the majority party has taken over, we have filled those buckets back up, we filled our cash reserves back up," she said.

   Those reserves were filled up by collecting property tax. Koelker noted that the state actually over-collected from the taxpayers, "hard-working Iowans' money." With the state's population remaining stagnant and not growing, she said they want to do something to keep people in Iowa. A few years ago, the state quit taxing retirement benefits. Last year, they enacted a 3.8 percent flat tax.

   "People thank us for it every day," she said. "We have other states calling us saying 'how did you get that done; it's incredible!' We're trying to make sure that we're not taking your money when you worked really hard to have it."

   Koelker said if your property taxes are going up, you need to look at your county, your city, and your school district.

   "Your assessments are going up; your levies are going up. Whether you know it or not, they are severely going up," she said.

   She said she hears from angry Iowans all the time, complaining about high property assessments and high property taxes.

   "They're being over-taxed," continued Koelker. "So we're trying to give them relief so they can continue to raise their families, while we keep our vulnerable population covered. We have taxing benefits out there for the vulnerable. It's not fair for the able-bodied workers."

   Someone in the audience asked Koelker how school districts, for example, are going to make up for loss of property taxes, money they depend on for operations.

   "What input will those smaller governments have because your decision (to cut property taxes) will have a huge impact on them?" asked the constituent.

   "We're telling them to watch their levies," warned Koelker. "So now they're upping them quick because they know what's coming. Your levy rate in Jones County is extremely high to me.

   "I wish that we had an endless, open checkbook on the backs of all of you, 'but we don't," she continued. "I ran my campaign on being a conservative voice, always voting for the taxpayer."

   The Iowa House and Senate are still at an impasse when it comes to funding public schools. The House wants to see 2.25 percent of SSA (State Supplemental Aid). The Senate and Governor Kim Reynolds are at 2 percent.

   "We're in the process of talking with the Senate. We have to come to an agreement and that goes on to the governor," said Bradley. "This is a topic that goes back ad forth. We'll have to compromise. It may get done within the next week or two; it may get done within the next month. We can't promise anything right now."

   Koelker clarified that the 2 percent proposed in the Senate is $200 million on top of what the schools are currently funded at. She said roughly 60 percent of the state budget, which she termed "Iowa taxpayer dollars," is spent on K-12 education.

   "Highest level they've ever been funded in the history of the State of Iowa," offered Koelker. "It's record money we provide to education because we believe in our future, we believe in our youth. Administration costs are going way up. Student enrollment is going way down. So we're trying to figure out how we're going to collect and get that gap closer."

   The state provides about $18,000 per student, a combination of state and federal funds.

   For those unhappy about how much of their taxes are going to schools, Koelker said "it's important to make sure you're electing whatever your views are on your city council, your school boards, as well as your county board of supervisors. We've had to sharpen our pencils at the state level; I invite our counties and cities who are very good friends of mine, to do the same."

   There was a question pertaining to HF (House File) 274, speaking about criminalizing public and school librarians for having "obscene" materials. Bradley said he does not expect this bill to advance.

   "I've gotten a lot of emails on this, both for and against," he noted.

   On a similar topic, a question was asked about parents' rights sexually explicit materials in libraries.

   "Some of these books are so explicit and so bad that you can't share anything. Kids should not be reading them," said Bradley.

   Another person asked how parents can enforce HF 583, the gender identity bill, when it comes to local school boards.

   "If they don't follow the bill, we defund them. It's as simple as that," Bradley said. "That's what we're doing to the universities."

   Koelker said there is a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to this bill. The legislature passed a bill stating "that boys and girls can't be showering together." In February, the Supreme Court informed the Iowa Legislature that the bill was illegal because the state did not openly define male and female.

   "So nobody's rights were taken away. Everyone's got rights; everyone has civil rights. If you don't, it's illegal," Koelker said. "Boys showering with girls, this does happen in Iowa, you guys. We have schools that came to us and begged for our help. We've had students and families who came to us and begged for help. Nobody's rights were stricken. Everyone has rights, but we had to define male and female by code."