Iowa Chapter Pushes for Property Tax Relief
The primary push of the Iowa Chapter, under the leadership of Dan Clark, is with the Iowa Legislature to provide property tax relief for recreational properties.
Legislative Initiative 1:
Three bills have been accepted and are in sub-committee. Recent discussions with the sub-committee chairman and legislative leadership show interest in a 5-year phase-in at 10% per year for a new recreational property tax classification.
Legislative Initiative 2:
In Spring of 2007 the Iowa Department of Revenue and the Legislative Rules Committee modified the Iowa Administrative Code to read “all property will be valued based on present use, not highest and best use.”
In Spring of 2008 an Iowa District Court Judge gave a ruling rescinding that language at the request of the Polk County Assessor.
In Summer of 2009 the Legislative Rules Committee denied a request to change the language back to “market value” and indicated it really intended to keep the “present use” language. The Iowa Farm Bureau is now actively supporting us in this effort and emphasizes their 154,000 members. The Iowa State Assessors Association is also actively supporting this effort.
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