Tax rollback drops slightly

The Iowa Department of Revenue has made its yearly adjustment to the formula that’s designed to hold down the property taxes of Iowans who own a home. Revenue Department spokesman Dick Stradley says the law requires them to roll back the assessments to contain the growth. He says you measure the growth of property assessments and it can’t grow more than four percent. If property assessments go up more than four percent, then you roll the assessed figure back. In 2003 the rollback was 48-point-four-five percent, and there was very little growth in assessments, so this year’s rollback figure is 47-point-nine-six. Stradley say the drop will mean a small change in the assessed value used for taxes on your home. For example, he says in 2003 a 100-thousand dollar home would’ve been assessed at 48-thousand, while this year it’ll be assessed at 47-960 dollars. He says if tax spending stays the same, homeowners could see a small savings. Stradley says the rollback number doesn’t changes a lot each year — with the biggest changes coming in odd-numbered years when most new tax assessments are done. He says for example,the rollback in 2002 was 51 percent, while in 2003 it was 48 percent. Stradley says the rollback only impacts residential property.