Prior to the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Thursday to consider beginning the elimination of the property tax backfill in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, which begins July 1, 2018, Carroll City Manager, Mike Pogge-Weaver penned a letter to district legislators, Senator Mark Segebart and Representative Brian Best. He is asking them to keep promises they made at a March Carroll Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum.
That is 12th District House Representative, Best, pledging his support of moving the proposed cuts out of this fiscal year. Sixth District Senator, Segebart, echoed that sentiment.
Pogge-Weaver says the two-year phase-out proposal caps appropriations at two-thirds the FY 2017 amount in the first year and caps to one third of that same year’s total in FY 2020. Because Iowa law requires cities and counties to certify their budgets with the state no later than March 15, these governmental bodies were not given the opportunity to make changes to address the revenue reductions. This, Pogge-Weaver says, could force organizations to make difficult and extreme budget cuts. He says for the City of Carroll, the property tax backfill is $208,000 in their budget, and if that is lowered, it is highly likely property taxes will have to be increased in subsequent fiscal years to make up part, if not all, of the shortfall. Pogge-Weaver points out that the backfill has provided nearly $2 million to the counties, cities and school districts in Segebart’s district and over $1.3 million in Best’s. He says, “I understand that the legislature believes it can no longer continue to support the backfill. To that end, I encourage you to stand firm and keep the promises both of you made during the legislative forums and only make cuts to the backfill starting in FY 2020 and beyond.”
