Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is proposing limiting city and county spending to provide property tax relief, which she unveiled Tuesday evening during her Condition of the State address.
The property tax plan would save taxpayers $3 billion over six years.
It would limit overall city and county spending growth to no more than 2 percent each year, excluding new construction, debt service and school funding.
Reynolds is also proposing freezing property taxes for Iowans 65 and older who own a home valued up to 350-thousand dollars, among several other changes.
Reynolds says it’s time to go after local government spending.
"Spending is what drives taxes – always has, always will. And the most reliable way to protect taxpayers is to limit the growth of government itself," the governor said.
Republican and Democratic leaders are coming up with their own property tax plans, and they say they want to see the details of the governor’s bill.
Additionally, Reynolds says she’ll put $50 million of federal health funding into cancer prevention, screening and treatment. The funding is part of a rural health program created in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill to partly offset Medicaid cuts.
Reynolds says radon testing, cancer screening for uninsured Iowans, and recruiting cancer specialists to rural areas are all part of her plan.
Some proposals to restrict the use of eminent domain powers in Iowa are expected to be prominent, but Reynolds did not mention that.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner said she was disappointed that Reynolds did not cite any water quality initiatives.
Earlier on the same day Tuesday, in his State of the State address, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden also pitched reducing property taxes.
