House passes broad property-tax reform after heated debate

The Iowa House on Thursday approved Senate File 2472, a comprehensive property-tax reform package that sponsors said will provide predictability and relief to taxpayers while critics warned it could shift costs and strip local flexibility.

Representative Nordman, the bill’s floor sponsor, told colleagues the strike-everything amendment HA394 "is the House's comprehensive property tax reform package designed to provide relief and predictability to Iowans while ensuring long term fiscal discipline at the local level." He outlined provisions that include capping local tax revenue growth at 2 percent (plus new-construction revenue), limiting local reserve accounts to 35 percent of budgets with a new restricted reserve for large capital projects, prohibiting use of property-tax bonds for…