A bill awaiting Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature was discussed by the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors earlier this week.

As the County is working on amendments to the current fiscal year budget, Supervisor Mike Dickson asked County Auditor Marci McClellan how a Republican-passed bill to make local property taxes “more transparent” will affect their process in passing budgets and amendments. McClellan explained that the County will have to publish a notice for and hold an additional public hearing to pass a resolution for the property tax asking, and they have to publish this information on their website. The bill requires cities and counties to hold this public hearing in order to raise property taxes from the previous year, and to raise them by more than 2% would require a two-thirds vote.

McClellan points out there will likely be confusion for taxpayers thinking their property taxes are capped at 2%, “They only capped two entities, the counties and the cities, and all they did was cap the two entities that provide services. They didn’t do anything with the hospital boards, the schools, any of your other boards.”

Dickson added that State Senator Jake Chapman of Adel, introduced the Senate version of this bill because “He is at war with his county.” If signed into law the policy would go into effect July 1st of 2020.