Hawkeye Reporter

A New Iowans for Tax Relief poll finds the majority of Iowans feel that their property taxes are too high.

Iowans for Tax Relief recently released data that stated 63.4% of state residents believe that property taxes are too high, with 22.9% stating property taxes are “about right” and 3.1% saying they are too low.

School board members, city council members and county supervisors raise taxes in order to increase local government spending, however, the majority of property owners believe that the principal reason for tax increases is the increasing value of their property, according to the organization.

This is not the case, according to the organization. Local officials raise the property tax rate beyond the rate of inflation of the value of the property and the enrollment of the associated school district.

Iowans for Tax Relief has created a tool for residents to examine the difference between the increase in their property taxes and the rate of growth for the value of their property, which allows Iowans to decide whether they believe that their property tax increases are acceptable.

A bigger gap between the rates of increase means that local officials are excessively increasing property tax rates beyond what is justifiable to foster the growth of the community, according to Iowans for Tax Relief.