Legislatures discuss property taxes and SNAP bill

Senator Tom Shipley and Representative Devon Wood met with constituents on Saturday for the final Legislative Coffee in Creston of the 2023 Iowa legislative session.

Shipley shared his thoughts on the recent property tax discussions.

“The property tax thing has probably taken up the most time, getting that resolved,” Shipley said. “The House has their plan, the Senate has their plan. Everybody says we can get that resolved by a week from this next Friday which is when we’re supposed to be done. We’ll see.”

The House’s proposal would cap property tax increases at 3% at homes and farms, and 8% at commercial and industrial properties per year. Shipley as said he’s done some digging of his own, such as talking with ISAC, the Iowa State Association of Counties.

“It involves an awful lot of sales tax money,” Shipley said. “I asked the ISAC how it all works, and people are concerned that they’re going to lose all that money. I don’t particularly like the way that we approached it and I said so. Theoretically, it will provide more money in a couple years when it’s all pooled together. There’s a few counties and a few cities that don’t have local options. That’s their choice. But this would collect the money… Some people said they’re going to collect the money in Des Moines, except that’s what they do now. Businesses don’t send their LOST money to the county. It’s all submitted and then redistributed. The projections are, you’ll be looking at more money under this system down the road then what it currently is.”

Shipley said he’s specifically worried about the impact the property taxes would have on rural communities such as in Union County.

“I’m very concerned how this is going to impact rural counties. I know and I see the rural divide really on this one,” Shipley said. “Out here, they’re not walking around carrying a whole bunch of cash. It’s just not what’s happening. It is a portion of what it should be. You should have part of your leftover at the end of the year at then end of June to get you to your first round of property taxes cut again the first of October. That’s not very sound principles at all. Counties around here are doing that, they’re doing what they should do. I’m really concerned, as county supervisors have expressed from all over the district, on how this could impact them. We shall see how that develops. It’s a work in progress.”

Along with property taxes, constituents expressed their concern regarding recent changes to the SNAP program, which have added income tests that may take thousands off of the plan.

Wood defended the changes, sharing other aspects of the bill she things people aren’t talking about.

“One of the things I thought was most interesting was, and I feel like a lot of folks aren’t talking about, is the real-time eligibility system that was in that bill,” Wood said. “For example, if you were applying for not only SNAP benefits but any other benefits that you can get through the state, this is going to enact a system that will also alert you to other forms of assistance that you may qualify for. That’s one of the things that I think is going to be a fantastic asset to those folks that rely on those benefits.”

Wood said in addition to this new system, there have been pieces added on to support parents.

“It also has a piece of it that helps parents,” Wood said. “If, for example, it’s a family where one of the parents receives child support from another parent, and that other parent is not making a plan with the courts to pay that money, this is going to help [the parent needing child support] track down and make that plan with that other parent to get some of that money that may have been unlawfully withheld from them.”

Wood believes the new SNAP program will help more people than before.

“Those are just two parts of that bill that I think are going to make a difference for some folks who may not always know what they qualify for and how they use this process to apply for all of the things that they may be eligible for,” Wood said. “That’s going to tell them in real time based on entering in some of their information based on this one program, “Hey, you qualify for Medicaid, you could qualify for this, you could qualify for this,” and that’s going to be a resource people can use without having to visit five different offices to meet with five different folks from the government here.”

One constituent thought the new SNAP bill was doing more harm than good, and asked what else the legislature was doing to help the demographic that used those resources.

“We’ve talked a lot about some of the different things that we have done to help different demographics,” Wood said. “A lot of times it’s our rural versus our urban communities, those suburban folks kind of being in the middle. I think a lot of what we’ve been trying to do is the workforce initiatives that we have this year. Providing jobs, providing resources in communities, and that’s been across the board. In Health and Human Services, there have been everything from nursing, healthcare fields, doctors, all of that to come to rural communities, providing those resources, but also creating pathways to maybe being a first time starter in a career field such as those.”

The Iowa legislative session is scheduled to adjourn on April 28.