News : Governor's property tax plan could mean $2 levy hike for Vinton homeowners

Vinton City Coordinator Andy Lent estimates that the plan by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to reduce commercial property taxes will require the city to raise residential property taxes by $2 per thousand to make up for the lost revenue.

"Originally, I estimated that a drop in 40% of the commercial valuation for Vinton would result in a loss of $192,000 in our general fund and raise our tax levy by $2 per thousand to meet the needs for debt service and employee benefit levies," said Lent. "Everything seems up in the air right now, so we aren’t sure what will happen. We know that if something is agreed to this year, it won’t affect us until the following fiscal year, so we can plan for the loss in revenue this fall. Hopefully, we won’t have to."

Lent said he is skeptical of the promise of future state funding to help offset the revenue reduction.

"Gov. Branstad has promised to have the state cover 50% of the loss each year, but we are concerned that the state will keep that promise, given their past budget concerns," he said.

The figures Lent used to make this estimate also included a 40% rollback for industrial property valuation, which the Governor has said he supports.