The Iowa GOP and a Republican who leads the Iowa Senate’s tax-writing committee say a property tax idea from Democrat Rob Sand, who’s running for governor, is unconstitutional.
Sand said Friday that “Iowa should be for Iowans” and he’s suggested property tax rates for out of state people and businesses that own Iowa property should be higher than what Iowans and Iowa businesses pay. Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann says the idea “has been examined before and thrown out every time” because the U.S. Constitution says states cannot discriminate against citizens of other states in commerce, property, or taxation. He also cites a 1966 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that residency cannot justify unequal tax treatment. He accuses Sand of being “either ignorant or dishonest.”
In a response to Radio Iowa, Sand’s campaign manager Emma O’Brien did not directly address the charge that Sand’s idea is unconstitutional. She said “out of state interests are buying up Iowa farmland and housing while the proceeds flow out of state,” and Sand believes “we need to find ways to keep our resources and the benefits that come from our work and our people here in Iowa to help us prosper and remain neighborly.”
Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs who is chairman of the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee, posted a one word message on social media in response to Sand’s proposal. “Unconstitutional,” Dawson said on X.