Iowans should expect to see further property tax law changes brought up in the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers said during the Greater Des Moines Partnership legislative leadership breakfast held on Dec. 3.

Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst and Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, answered questions and talked about their caucus goals at the annual event Tuesday, going over objectives and expectations for the upcoming 2025 legislative session set to begin Jan. 13.

While legislators said they are still figuring out specifics on policy proposals, Bousselot said Iowans should expect to see further action on property taxes in the upcoming year. In 2023, lawmakers passed House File 718, a measure Republicans estimated would save Iowa taxpayers $100 million in property taxes by capping levy rates for cities and counties.

Bousselot said Senate Republicans plan to work with the House and governor to decide what the next step for changing Iowa property tax law will look like, but that the GOP caucus plans to make lowering the cost of property taxes a priority. He said rising property tax costs were a recurring concern brought up by constituents on the campaign trail leading up to the 2024 election.

“An average of more than 7% increase for counties and 6% for cities — that’s money out of property taxpayers’ pockets,” Bousselot told reporters. “It’s money out of Iowans’ pockets. It’s making it more expensive to live in Iowa. We have to address that this session. We will address that this session.”

In the 2023 legislative session, local government officials and advocates with groups such as the Iowa League of Cities brought up concerns about the changes to Iowa’s property tax system. They said limiting property taxes without providing cities and counties alternative forms of revenue would limit local communities’ ability to fund needed services and amenities.

Steve Richardson, an Indianola city council member and former state legislator, brought up these concerns at the partnership breakfast, saying that restrictions on property taxes could have an outsized negative impact on small towns and rural communities in Iowa.

“I had a meeting in September, they were all city clerks, and they were asking me, ‘What do we cut? You know, if you take property taxes away from us and do those kinds of things in those small communities, what do you cut?'” Richardson said. “… A lot of you represent, especially on the majority party, you represent those areas that really are in smaller communities. So the question comes down to — for cities, counties and schools — if you continue to erode the revenues that can be used by those cities, whether it’s property taxes or other forms of income, what kind of options are you going to give these local governments to continue to fund the amenities that our citizens want?”

Bousselot said that “property tax revenues are dollars paid by property taxpayers,” and should not be treated as funding “bequeathed” or expected at current funding levels by local governments.

“I think every city is different, but it’s a challenge that we need to tackle for the sake of property tax homeowners,” he said.

However, Konfrst said she hopes that in the upcoming session, local government officials are more included in the process of crafting property tax legislation than they were during the 2023 session. She also said property taxes are a local issue, and that elected local officials should retain power to make decisions on these subjects.

“I agree that Ackley and Ankeny aren’t the same, and I trust the leaders of Ackley and Ankeny to know what to do best with their budgets, and I think they need to be at the table and have a conversation,” Konfrst said. “Not every decision needs to be made by the Iowa legislature, and local elected officials are elected to make those kinds of decisions for their own community, and I think we need to give you a little bit more power than we have in the past few years.”

Windschitl told reporters he has already had some discussions with groups like the Iowa League of Cities and Iowa Association of Counties, saying “there are a lot of different players that are going to need to be around the table to figure out how we do this and how we do it appropriately.” However, he reiterated Bousselot’s point that high property tax costs are a major concern for many Iowans.

” We don’t want people property taxed out of their homes,” Windschitl said. “We heard that repeatedly throughout the entire state. It didn’t matter which corner you came from, people want to make sure that their homes are affordable, and if they’ve made the investment into their homes, that they’re not getting taxed out of it.”

He also said that there could be some parts brought up in future legislation that make changes to the 2023 law on property taxes. Windschitl said there may be changes to the earlier law’s “cap on growth” that are introduced in 2025 to address concerns about how these limits impact communities of different sizes and in differing economic positions.

“When we did House File 718, there was a knowledge that, as we did that, that we have to come back in and revisit property taxes at some future legislature,” he said. “So that’s where we’re at now, and we’re going to have those conversations. And it may be a one-year conversation, and it may be a two-year conversation. Keep in mind, the General Assembly is around for two years, so we’ve got the entire 91st to try and address this.”