Once ranked as one of the worst states (44th) for its tax climate, Iowa is becoming more competitive (20th) and will only improve as future reforms are implemented. The Tax Foundation has released its new State Tax Competitiveness Index, which replaces the previous State Business Tax Climate Index. This updated Index considers not only the business tax environment but also […]
Lowering property taxes is crucial for Iowa’s economic growth and competitiveness, but this will only happen if tax relief extends to ALL taxpayers. A common theme among legislators, regardless of party, is that high property taxes remain a recurring concern among their constituents. This issue is also prominent on the campaign trail. Recently, the Des Moines Register reported that a […]
Once in office, elected officials feel the push and pull of constituencies that supported them, those that opposed them, and those that could be gained or lost. And that means – from the start – laying down markers defining what good policy … and bad policy … looks like. Political parties are focused on one clear goal: getting their candidates elected. […]
In the case of Webster City and Hamilton County, the average increase in property tax dollars collected was significantly more than the increase in the rate. When discussing property taxes, local elected officials in Iowa often use variations of the phrase, “We kept the rate the same” or “We didn’t raise the rate.” They say this because it sounds good, […]
“An unlikely insult has emerged on the 2024 presidential campaign trail: ‘Herbert Hoover,’ wrote Catherine Lucy and Ken Thomas for The Wall Street Journal.[1] Both former President Donald J. Trump and President Joe Biden have both talked about Hoover in a negative manner.[2] President Biden has even gone as far to label the former President “Donald ‘Herbert Hoover’ Trump.”[3] Interestingly, [&hell...
This article was published in the Telegraph Herald and The Gazette. Paring back unnecessary local expenditures and then capping property tax growth at 2% would save taxpayers $250 million a year. Governing magazine crowned Gov. Kim Reynolds among 2024’s leading public officials, lauding conservative reforms that slashed Iowa’s punishing 9% income tax to a lean 3.8% flat rate by 2025. […]
This article was published in the Telegraph Herald. In addition to being honored by the CATO Institute, Governor Reynolds received the Tax Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award and was named a Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has once again been rated as the nation’s most fiscally conservative governor in the CATO Institute’s 2024 Fiscal […]
Constitutional protections exist for other state funds, and it is time for Iowa taxpayers to receive that same benefit. Securing the tax reforms already enacted in Iowa by adding protections to the state constitution is essential to preserving the progress made since 2018. These reforms, particularly the shift to a flat tax, have transformed Iowa’s tax system into one that […]
Seventeen local governments are going back to taxpayers for more after recent election asks. Three cities, one county, and 13 schools are going back to taxpayers asking for more money in the November 2024 election despite their other recent ballot measures that asked taxpayers for more money. Six of these local governments recently enjoyed either passage of a bond measure […]
Ideally, state and local governments should eliminate all corporate tax incentives and subsidies, given their economic, political, and ethical drawbacks. Government is least disruptive to economic activity when it limits spending to essential state activities, avoids intervening in private, commercial markets, and finances its operations through low, broad-based, easily understood taxes.
The November election will determine more than just who sits in the White House and which party controls Congress. While the candidates’ governing philosophies will shape future decisions in Washington, DC, there are crucial policy issues that will need attention once the winners are sworn in. At the forefront for Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation is the impending expiration of the Tax Cuts and Job...
Voters will be asked to approve funding for emergency medical services (EMS), more commonly referred to as “the ambulance tax.” Current law (federal, state, and local) allows variation in how government entities provide (or do not provide) emergency medical services (EMS), including ambulance services. Iowa’s statutes require local delivery of law enforcement and fire protection, which may deliver...
The corporate incentives game creates a subsidies arms race among states and localities—one that is difficult to stop without an agreement among policymakers. Despite the well-documented, widely shared concerns associated with corporate incentives, their use has persisted and even increased in the early 2020s. One reason is political: Voters tend to support incentives, and elected officials in dif...
Measuring the budgetary impact of corporate subsidies is complicated by a lack of transparency. There is no single comprehensive source that covers all spending and forgone tax revenue related to corporate incentives. Efforts to improve transparency in this area have traditionally focused on tax expenditures and tax abatements; loans and outright subsidies have received less attention. Therefore,...
While the apparent benefits of corporate subsidies are seen and tangible, often taking the form of a new office building or manufacturing plant, the economic costs are less obvious. Nevertheless, these costs are significant and widespread.
Tax increases, unchecked federal government spending, and rising national debt levels pose a significant economic threat to Iowa. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the signature economic policy achievement of President Donald Trump. The TCJA benefited most taxpayers, but unless renewed or made permanent, the tax cuts are set to expire starting at the end of 2025. If […]
Advocates of corporate incentives routinely allege that the measures generate significant benefits for state and local governments and their communities, but these claims are questionable. In fact, state and local subsidies often pay companies for investments they would have made regardless of whether a business incentive was offered. Notably, research shows that very few business incentives are ...
Taxpayers across 59 counties, representing 82% of the state’s population, will be asked to increase their debt burden. The November 5, 2024, general election ballots in 59 counties will have bond questions. This potential new spending of $1.13 billion would, if enacted, directly affect 82.4% of the state’s population. The bond questions cover a variety of local government types: Nine […]
State and local governments often offer economic development subsidies to attract businesses, but these incentives come with significant costs and questionable benefits. Our friends at the Cato Institute have published an excellent, in-depth study that breaks down the complexities of business incentives, exploring their impact on economic growth, budgetary costs, and the effectiveness of such subs...
State and municipal business subsidies can induce companies to invest locally but are often ineffective and costly, especially when compared to alternative policies proven to encourage investment in a more efficient and equitable way. Recently, states have offered companies such as semiconductor and electric vehicle producers especially large incentives, usually linked to Biden-era industrial poli...
To reverse the progressive revolution, it will take a cultural change and a reformation back to constitutional principles. Progressivism is not a new term. Eclipsing the Populist Period of the late 19th century, which embraced a “radical agrarianism” that was tied to “grassroots democracy,” a potpourri of thinkers and practitioners seized the opportunity to use the centralized administrative and t...
Policymakers need to learn from history that reforms relying on tax shifts, “buy downs,” assessment limitations, and the state swooping in seldom work. At one time, Iowa relied entirely on property taxes to fund state government. In 1921, the state levied its next major tax—a two-cent-per-package “sin” tax on cigarettes. Then, in 1934, as a response to the economic struggles […]
State and local governments have enjoyed hundreds of billions of dollars in interest cost savings by refinancing their debt, but that all changed in 2018, costing taxpayers billions. Iowa’s state and local governments have almost $21 billion in outstanding debt obligations, with two-thirds of that total borne by local property taxpayers. The combined debt of Iowa’s cities, counties, and schools [&...