House Republicans are offering an expanded property tax plan that will still cap property tax revenue growth for cities and counties at 2% a year. That’s something Gov Reynolds and House Republicans support. House Speaker Pat Grassley said other ideas Senate Republicans and the governor have championed are now in the House GOP proposal.
“This is a tremendous move forward towards incorporating many facets of other bills and, in fact, I would even argue there were only a few pieces we took from our original bill,” Grassley said. “Most of this is incorporated from the senate and the governor’s plan to try to find that level of compromise.”
During after an event in her statehouse office, Governor Kim Reynolds told reporters this development has injected momentum into negotiations. “It’s easier to work off of one bill that we believe, or they believe has captured everything,” Reynolds said.
The gas tax increase included in the bill that passed the Senate last week is not in this new House GOP document. However, it does call for converting the homestead tax credit into a tax exemption for each homeowner and triple the value to $15,000. The state funding that currently supports that credit would be funneled to public school districts. That move alone is estimated to reduce property taxes statewide by nearly $150 million.
Grassley briefed reporters late this morning after meeting privately with House Republicans. Grassley said House Republicans knew from the beginning of the year that there would have to be movement toward common ground. “We feel by incorporating many of these changes that we’ve made a good faith effort,” Grassley said. “…I don’t see how this doesn’t bring us closer to an agreement and I’d be disappointed if it didn’t.”
The main architect of the Senate GOP’s property tax plan said there’s “obvious momentum” behind the Senate’s vision for property tax relief since their bill passed on a 41-4 vote last week. Senator Dan Dawson said Senate Republicans look forward to continuing discussions on how to provide “real tax relief to Iowans.”