In 2019, Iowa lawmakers passed a property tax accountability and transparency law. Any city or county government with a proposed budget increase of more than 2% (school districts are exempt) above the previous year must now hold a public hearing first. Then, if the elected body still wishes to raise taxes after holding that hearing, it must achieve a supermajority vote of its members.
While this law is a good start, huge property tax increases in recent years prove that more needs to be done. ITR Foundation is both monitoring legislators’ plans to “give teeth” to the 2019 reforms and investigating other states with similar laws on the books.
Nebraska, for instance, just implemented a tax accountability and transparency policy, so we traveled to Omaha for the first related public hearing where more than 100 people were in attendance. Learn what happened and how this type of policy could benefit Iowans by allowing citizens to voice their opinion and hold elected officials accountable.
Want to learn more about property taxes in your community? Visit ITRLocal.org.
