Legislator Ltr Manternach HF 2Qty Manager's Office
City Hall
(563) 5894110 office
(563) 5894149 fax
ctymgr@cityofdubuque.org
February 3, 2003
The Honorable Gene Manternach
Iowa State Representative
9608 Maple Road
Cascade, IA 52033
Re: HF2
Dear Gene:
I am wdting to you regarding the proposed HF2 related to property tax valuations
because of your sponsorship of this legislation. This legislation requires Boards of
Supervisors and City Councils to determine the amount of adjusted taxable value that is
subject to property tax in the following year by a resolution to be approved by December
15.
This timeline isn't feasible due to dates of receipt of assessed valuation, equalization
orders, rollback figures issued in early November and a prepared budget, which isn't
certified until March 15. Add to this mix a December 1 deadline for filing of TIF requests
to the County Auditor and the problem with this timeline becomes more apparent. The
County Auditor needs to collect all of this information, apply it to valuations and verify all
calculations before taxable valuations can be determined.
A notice must be published by the city and county in a county newspaper on or before
March 15th to inform the taxpayers of the decisions to raise taxes, but this is not
required of schools, which are the largest taxing entity in terms of property taxes. The
notice publication language referring to the percentage of property subject to property
tax isn't likely to enlighten taxpayers significantly. Finally, the language requiring "the
same percentage shall be applied to all classes of property" is confusing.
I hope you will join us in opposing this legislation as proposed.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
MCVM:pj
CC:Senator Mike Connolly
Senator Julie Hosch
Senator Roger Stewart
Representative Pam Jochum
Representative Pat Murphy
Representative Robert Osterhaus
Representative Steve Lukan
Mayor Terry Duggan
Dubuque City Council
Susan Judkins, Director of Governmental Affairs, Iowa League of Cities
Barry Lindahl, Corporation Council
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Bill Baum, Economic Development Director