Opponents of two proposed amendments to Iowa’s constitution say the documentwill be cluttered unnecessarily — and the amendments won’t accomplish whatsupporters claim. One amendment would force a 60 percent vote in thelegislature to raise income, sales or use taxes. Former Iowa LieutenantGovernor Art Neu, a republican from Carroll, says having it apply to justsales, income and use taxes is a flaw.Neu says more obligations will be passed along to local governments, likecities and counties — and that means higher property taxes.But David Stanley, president of Iowans for Tax Relief, disagrees with Neu.The other amendment limits state spending to 99 percent of state taxcollections. The rest would be put in a “rainy day” fund. Stanley saysit’ll also force the state to keep its books by generally acceptedaccounting principles.Stanley and Neu made their comments during taping of an Iowa PublicTelevision program which will air on June 27th.
