Legislators - Reclassifying Apartments
THE CITY OF
City Manager's Office
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4864
(563) 589-4110 phone
(563) 589-4149 fax
ctymgr@cityofdubuque.org
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March 10, 2005
VIA Email and
1 sl Class Mail
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<<CompleteLOCALName _Add ress>>
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Re: Reclassifying Apartments
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Dear <<Title>> <<Last>>,
It is my understanding that there has been some discussion by the legislators to
reclassifying apartments from commercial to residential. Should this
reclassification occur, these buildings would be subject to the residential rollback
and result in a tremendous loss of tax revenue for Dubuque. Below is an
analysis of the impact that such a bill would have on Dubuque:
Total assessed value
Tax revenue loss for Dubuque
$117,147,130
$ 544,932
It is my understanding that the intent of the legislation is to pass along the tax
savings to low-income renters through lower rent costs. While I appreciate the
intent of this bill, I do not believe that reclassification of apartments as residential
is the answer to creating affordable housing. I strongly urge you to resist any
efforts to reclassify apartments.
Lastly, we would ask that you support efforts to bring about a comprehensive
update of the existing property tax system rather than look at individual programs
for modification such as would be the case with this reclassification.
Service
People
Integrity
Responsibility
Innovation
Teamwork
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
MCVM:cms
cc: Mayor Terry Duggan
Dubuque City Council
Tom Bredeweg, Executive Director, Iowa League of Cities
Rick Dickinson, Greater Dubuque Development Corp.
Steward Sandstrom, Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce
Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Dawn Lang, Budget Director
Dave Heiar, Economic Development Director
Ken TeKippe, Finance Director
Rick Engelken, City Assessor, Dubuque County
The Honorable Mike Connolly
Iowa State Senator
2600 Renaissance Dr #3
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Pam Jochum
Iowa State Representative
2368 Jackson
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Steven Lukan
Iowa State Representative
7365 Columbus Street
New Vienna IA 52065
The Honorable Tom Hancock
Iowa State Senator
310 E Main Street
Epworth, lA, 52045
The Honorable Pat Murphy
Iowa State Representative
155 N. Grandview Avenue
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Ray Zirkelbach
Iowa State Representative
637 W. First Street
Monticello, IA 52310
The Honorable Roger Stewart
Iowa State Senator
3936317 Avenue
Preston, IA 52069
The Honorable Thomas
Schueller
Iowa State Representative
503 W. Platt Street
Maquoketa, IA 52060