HSB 758 (LSB 6094YC (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON NORDMAN)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to evidence and burdens of proof in property tax assessment protests and appeals and including retroactive applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 441.21, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  (1)  For assessment years beginning before January 1, 2018, the burden of proof shall be upon any complainant attacking such valuation as excessive, inadequate, inequitable, or capricious. However, in protest or appeal proceedings when the complainant offers competent evidence by at least two disinterested witnesses that the market value of the property is less than the market value determined by the assessor, the burden of proof thereafter shall be upon the officials or persons seeking to uphold such valuation to be assessed.
   (2)  (1)  For assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2026, the burden of proof shall be upon any complainant attacking such valuation as excessive, inadequate, inequitable, or capricious. However, in protest or appeal proceedings when the complainant offers competent evidence that the market value of the property is different than the market value determined by the assessor, the burden of proof thereafter shall be upon the officials or persons seeking to uphold such valuation to be assessed.
   (2)  For assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, when the complainant offers evidence that the market value of the property is different than the market value determined by the assessor, the burden of proof shall be upon the officials or persons seeking to uphold such valuation to be assessed.
   (3)  If the classification of a property has been previously adjudicated by the property assessment appeal board or a court as part of an appeal under this chapter, there is a presumption that the classification of the property has not changed for each of the four subsequent assessment years, unless a subsequent such adjudication of the classification of the property has occurred, and the burden of demonstrating a change in use shall be upon the person asserting a change to the property’s classification.
    Sec. 2.  Section 441.37, subsection 1, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (a), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   (a)  That said assessment is not equitable as compared with assessments of other like property in the taxing district.  For assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, an assessment shall not be deemed equitable if the appraised value of the property exceeds the median appraised value of a reasonable number of similar and comparable properties in the same geographical area. 
    Sec. 3.  RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies retroactively to January 1, 2026, for assessment years beginning on or after that date. 
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, for assessment years on or after January 1, 2018, the burden of proof shall be upon any complainant attacking a property valuation as excessive, inadequate, inequitable, or capricious. When the complainant offers competent evidence that the market value of the property is different than the market value determined by the assessor, the burden of proof thereafter shall be upon the officials or persons seeking to uphold such valuation to be assessed.
   This bill provides that, for assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, when the complainant offers evidence that the market value of the property is different than the market value determined by the assessor, the burden of proof shall be upon the officials or persons seeking to uphold such valuation to be assessed.
   Under current law, when a property owner or aggrieved taxpayer files an assessment protest, the protest must be confined to certain grounds. One such ground is that the assessment is not equitable as compared with assessments of other like property in the taxing district. The bill specifies that an assessment shall not be deemed equitable if the appraised value of the property exceeds the median appraised value of a reasonable number of similar and comparable properties in the same geographical area.
   The bill applies retroactively to January 1, 2026, for assessment years beginning on or after that date.