Iowa lawmakers hope for adjournment this week

DES MOINES (AP) ­­? Iowa legislative leaders are expressing confidence they can finish their protracted budget talks and adjourn this week despite an ongoing dispute over proposed property tax reductions.

Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen said lawmakers have been told to return to Des Moines on Monday for votes on budget bills, as legislative leaders finish negotiations.

?I think the budget is now close enough that we can get that done in a couple of days,? said Paulsen, R-Hiawatha. ?The only question is whether or not they?ll hold up adjournment on the property tax bill.?

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal expressed similar optimism, saying lawmakers have made good progress on budgets for health and human services, agriculture and natural resources, administrative services and criminal justice.

The House and Senate have introduced different versions of bills to lower property taxes.

The House proposal includes permanent reductions in property value for commercial and industrial properties, which would lower owners? tax burden. The House plan also offers property tax credits for businesses and changes that would treat rental properties the same as residential properties for taxation purposes.

The Senate version would represent a 25 percent decrease in the commercial property taxes collected by the state, the largest cut in Iowa history.

Gronstal has said the reductions would total more than $350 million for businesses, out of the $1.4 billion the state collects each year. It also would lower property taxes on rental properties.

Republican Gov. Terry Branstad said it?s time for lawmakers to act on property taxes, which are rising with land values. The value of Iowa farmland has risen 160 percent during the past decade to an average of $5,064 per acre last year, according to Iowa State University. Commercial properties in Iowa are taxed at 100 percent of their assessed value, while residential properties are taxed at 50 percent.

?There are still details to be worked out,? Branstad said. ?But this thing has been around for 30 years. It?s time we get something accomplished ? a permanent property tax reduction for commercial and industrial, but also protecting the other classes of property.?

Leaders have said an education spending bill could be ready for debate as early as Monday, but they haven?t released details on budget totals.

The governor?s office, the Senate and the House generally have agreed on spending about $6.24 billion from the state?s general fund budget during the next fiscal year, up about 3.8 percent from the current year?s budget. It?s the underlying individual budgets that spark contention ?Äî how money is allocated within the budgets and the millions that are spent outside the general fund.