Legislative Letters
City Manager's Office
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4864
(563) 589-4110 phone
(563) 589-4149 fax
ctymgr@cityofdubuque.org
THE CITY OF (~:----..\
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,
April 18, 2005
VIA Email and
1 st Class Mail
<<Email>>
<<CompleteLOCALName _Add ress>>
Re: HF 847
Dear <<Title>> <<Last>>,
I am writing to encourage you to vote no on HF 847, a property tax limitation bill.
This bill would severely impact the available property tax base for cities, counties
and schools.
HF 847 makes several changes relating to property taxes, assessments and
local budgeting requirements. This bill would tie together the taxable valuation
growth for residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial classes of property
and limit the increase of the taxable valuation to the lowest percentage for all of
these classes or 4.0%, whichever is lowest. State revenue projections based
upon this scenario would decrease revenues for taxing authorities by $51.8
million statewide in the first year and $267.4 million by 2016.
This bill would also require cities to fund essential service including police, fire,
street improvements, street lights and refuse collection at current or higher levels
each year, yet reduces the resources to implement these services. Services
such as police and fire are already mandated by the Iowa Code and this bill
creates a duplication in the Code. In addition, some of these services such as
street improvements, street lights and refuse collection are funded by other
funding sources yet through HF 847 they will be tied to general fund property tax
dollars.
As you know, the impact of funding cuts in 2003 to local governments was
devastating to the City of Dubuque as it resulted in a reduction of $1,195,425 in
revenue or 3.54 percent of the general fund operating expense. Should the
legislature pass HF 847, the impact would be significant and would likely mean
Service
People
Integrity
Responsibility
Innovation
Teamwork
increased fees for existing services, reduction of services and expenses through
the elimination of city staff.
Lastly, HF 847 does not provide for a comprehensive approach to real property
tax reform as is outlined in HSB 293 and SSB 1240. These bills provide for
services while eliminating the shift in tax burden to businesses and ensuring a
reasonable revenue limitation.
I strongly encourage you to oppose HF 847. Thank you for your continued
support.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
MCVM:cms
Cc: Mayor Terry Duggan
Dubuque City Council
Susan Judkins, Director of Governmental Affairs, Iowa League of Cities
Rick Engelken, City Assessor
Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Dawn Lang, Budget Director
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