The State Legislature has remained busy throughout the current general assembly, and one bill that has been the focus of a lot of conversation at the Capitol involves changes to property tax.

State Representative Chris Hagenow, (R) District 19, says the purpose of House Study Bill 165 is to combat the impact of rising property assessments by limiting the tax levy rates set by local governments. “The bill will try and equalize what your actual levy rate is so that it’s more transparent for the individual property tax payer, and then try and get control on the growth of overall city and county spending as well. You know, we operate the state budget with some pretty fine margins and pretty limited growth rates, and (we) think that cities and counties can operate inside of a similar structure.”

The bill has been met with a great deal of opposition, including from the Iowa League of Cities. Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson is one such opponent, saying it’s a messy bill that is seeking to strip the authority of cities and counties. “(It’s) really convoluted. I think (it) would really tie the hands of public entities to be able to take advantage of the development that they have in their community to work with that, and be able to set appropriate property tax rates for their communities.”

HSB 165 is through the House subcommittee, and is eligible for floor debate. Since it is a Ways and Means Bill, it wasn’t subject to the funnel deadlines, and can be discussed or passed at any time before the end of the session. To learn more about the current general assembly, listen to our weekly legislative update on the Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program each Monday.