A bill for an act relating to local government funding by modifying school district funding provisions, property assessment provisions, and bond issuance requirements, and including effective date and applicability provisions.(See HF 718.)
Lowering taxes is something the state legislature was elected to do, but this bill does the opposite. There are a number of flaws in this bill. Taking away urban renewal to fund essential corporate infrastructure bonds will increase taxes on residents. Asking voters to pass a referandum every time urban renewal is used is an economic development killer. Developers now must wait a year for a vote and tailoring their developments to an entire town will add costs and lower profitability. We have a huge potential development waiting on this bill in West Branch. In addition, the 10% downpayment encourages our council to increase our capital reserve levy just so we have more money to sit on for a 10% downpayment project. And lastly, our council was elected to make local decisions. Local decisions should not be made by people in Des Moines who do not live in our neighborhood. Please take a look at a letter that West Branch's city council will be passing tonight in opposition to HF1.
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