News from the Hill…
This week we received the Senate Democrats proposal on commercial property taxes, SF 295. The bill in its original form provides a property tax credit for businesses on the first $324,000 of value. But that is only when or if the credit is fully funded. There needs to be at least a 4% annual revenue growth at the state for the credit to be funded. Also, the bill relies on the legislature to annually appropriate the amount of money to fund the tax credit. This credit would be similar to the Homestead tax credit that seldom gets fully funded. This bill simply does not provide predictable commercial property tax relief. This bill does nothing to stop the shift that is occurring to the residential property tax payer. This bill does not bring clarity into the multi-residential living units and finally the bill does not modernize the Telephone Industries. These are all the reasons why we amended the bill to correct all that was wrong in SF 295.
The House amendment stripped everything in the Senate file and replaced it with our language. We rolled back the commercial value so it would be taxed at 80% of value when fully enacted. This provides $339 million in property tax relief. The state protects local governments with a standing unlimited appropriation to backfill lost revenue. This would be capped at that same $339 million. The amendment stops the shift that is occurring to the residential property tax payer, by limiting the present allowed 4% growth to only 2%. Residential property tax payers pay approximately half of all property taxes in the State. The House amendment provides additional property tax relief across all classes of property by removing some of the K-12 funding property tax burden off of the property tax payer’s shoulders and placing that at the state. This alone provides an additional $322 million dollars of property tax relief across all classes of property. This especially helps property tax payers located in school districts that have less property value in relationship to the number of students they have.
In present law, buildings that have two or less living units are taxed as residential. Structures that have three or more living units are taxed as commercial. There are exceptions depending how they are listed. This creates confusion and a tax inequity between like uses. The House amendment fixes this problem by establishing a new class called Multi-Residential Property. After a four year phase-in, this classification would receive the same rollback as residential. This brings clarity and equity into similar buildings with the same use.
Finally, but most importantly, the amendment modernizes property tax assessment for local exchange carriers. While local exchange carriers have been under a monopoly-era assessment mechanism, other providers have entered the industry under a deregulated, competitive market and received more favorable treatment in this area. Under central assessment, a local exchange carrier’s stock and debt, income and attachments are also subject to property taxation in Iowa. The legislation provides an exemption for personal property/central office equipment, an exemption other carriers have received since the mid-90s. The bill also provides a rollback of 60 percent phased-in over two years. By providing competitive equity through this legislation, local exchange carriers will be better prepared to invest in providing their customers with improved network service. I am the floor manager of this bill and this is one of the major priorities of our House Republican Caucus and Governor Branstad.
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” – Winston Churchill
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
-Tom Sands