A proposed constitutional amendment would do away with a voter-approved fund for conservation and outdoor recreation projects and direct part of any future sales tax increase to property tax relief.
In 2010, 63% of Iowa voters approved a constitutional amendment that created the fund, but it has no money because it’s only to be filled if the state sales tax is raised. Mike Shannon, a biologist with Ducks Unlimited, opposes elimination of the fund.
“The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund is not about water quality,” he said during a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. “I mean, it’s about quality of life for Iowans.”
Brett Hayes, a farmer from Mills County, supports the proposed amendment because it shifts the focus on property taxes.
“Property taxes for farmers are a cost of doing business that keeps going up even when the farm economy’s struggling,” he told lawmakers.
The proposed constitutional amendment is co-sponsored by 17 of the 34 Republicans in the Iowa Senate. It would have to be approved by the Senate and the House by 2026, and then again sometime in 2027 or 2028 before it could go before voters in 2028.