Iowans for Tax Relief: The Taxpayers’ Watchdog

April 18, 2008

The express train that was House File 2663 came to a screeching halt this week in the Iowa Senate as a determined group of Senate Republicans refused to allow this ill conceived legislation to go forward without a fight.

April 11, 2008

House Votes to Take Away the Right of Local Voters to Approve the Sales Tax for School Buildings and Leaves School Infrastructure Funds at The Mercy of State Politicians

This Wednesday, April 9, the Iowa House approved House File 2663 on a vote of 59-41.  HF 2663 is the legislation that would eliminate the local option sales tax for school infrastructure and replace it with a statewide increase in the sales and use tax.  Iowans for Tax Relief strongly OPPOSES HF 2663.

March 21, 2008 

HF 2066 Takes Away Your Right to Vote, Raises Taxes on Iowa's Biggest Employers, and Gives State Politicians the Power to Steal These Funds from Local Schools.

This week the House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of House File 2066, a bill that would replace the current local option tax for school infrastructure (SILO) with an additional penny of statewide sales and use tax (each additional penny of sales and use tax raises about $400 million).

March 7, 2008

On Tuesday, March 4, voters in Scott and Muscatine Counties voted to extend their participation in the local option sales tax for school infrastructure (SILO) for another 10 years.  Nearly 78% of those voting in Scott County approved the tax extension while nearly 85% of those voting in Muscatine County said YES.

Perhaps more significant than the overwhelming approval percentages, voters were also giving their consent to sharing a portion of the local proceeds generated by SILO with school districts in sales tax poor areas to allow greater statewide equalization of SILO resources among school districts.

After Speaking To Members Of The Iowa State Education Association, Governor Agrees Dollars Could Be Used For Spending Other Than Just School Infrastructure:

One of the reasons Iowans for Tax Relief has so strongly opposed legislation (House File 2066) to convert the current local option sales tax for school infrastructure to a permanent statewide sales tax is our belief state politicians cannot be trusted with these funds.  We believe a $400 million state infrastructure fund for school construction would be a tempting target for politicians looking to find resources for other state programs.

February 21, 2008 

Since its inception, the local option sales tax for school infrastructure (SILO) has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to build, repair, and maintain Iowa school buildings.  The SILO has undoubtedly saved significant dollars for Iowa property taxpayers, because many major school construction projects have been funded by local option sales tax that otherwise would have been paid for by raising property taxes.

But now there is heavy pressure to replace the SILO with a permanent one-cent sales and use tax increase.   This change would remove the essential citizen input that has made SILO a successful partnership between voters and local school boards, and would raise property taxes.

February 15, 2008

This week the House Education Committee voted in favor of House File 2066, a bill that would replace the current local option tax for school infrastructure (SILO) with an additional penny of statewide sales and use tax (each additional penny of sales and use tax raises about $400 million).

January 25, 2008

Yesterday, 14 members of the Iowa House introduced House File 2066, a bill that would replace the current local option tax for school infrastructure (SILO) with an additional penny of statewide sales and use tax (each additional penny of sales and use tax raises about $400 million).

Voters in all 99 Iowa counties have adopted the SILO and are collecting the tax. HF 2066 would eliminate local voters from the approval process and make the tax a permanent statewide penny. In addition, HF 2066 increases the state use tax by a penny (the use tax is exempt from the current SILO) and that will result in a tax increase of about $120 million beyond the current tax.

Iowans for Tax Relief strongly OPPOSES HF 2066.

 April 13, 2007

Groups from across the political spectrum have found common ground on House File 854, the proposed legislation to replace the school infrastructure local option tax (SILO) with a permanent statewide increase in the state sales and use tax.

March 21, 2007

March 9, 2007 

Bill Would Raise Taxes On Iowans By $100 Million And Open Door To Property Tax Increases.     

Voters in all 99 Iowa counties have adopted the SILO and are collecting the tax.  HSB 250 would eliminate local voters from the approval process and make the tax a permanent statewide penny.