Gov. Kim Reynolds spoke with reporters after a roundtable meeting with state lawmakers and community members at the Roy R. Estle Memorial Library in Dallas Center Oct. 16, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Gov. Kim Reynolds has reiterated her goal of tackling property taxes in the 2026 legislative session, the last session before her term as governor ends.
In Dallas Center on Thursday, Reynolds held a roundtable discussion on property taxes and other issues with Dallas County community members, business and local government leaders, as well as state Reps. Carter Nordman and David Young. While the meeting was closed to the press, the governor told reporters after the event that she and Republicans in the state legislature plan to craft legislation aimed at lowering property taxes in 2026. Reynolds, who is not seeking reelection in 2026, said this would be the final piece of years of work as governor with a Republican-controlled legislature to lower taxes.
“This year, we went to a 3.8% flat income tax,” Reynolds said. “We no longer tax pension or inheritance. We did the unemployment insurance tax last year, where we cut in half what employers are taxed on — that’ll be a $10 billion savings for employers over 10 years. So the last piece to really tackle is property taxes.”
The discussion on lowering property tax costs has come up in several recent legislative sessions. In 2023, Reynolds signed a law capping levy rates for cities and counties and providing new exemptions for property owners.
Earlier this year, House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, and Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, the 2025 chairs of the Ways and Means committees in the House and Senate, held multiple meetings on a property tax bill that included a repeal of Iowa’s “rollback” system, in which only a portion of residential property value is treated as taxable. Though the proposal went through multiple iterations and committee meetings, it failed to advance in the 2025 session.
The governor did not say whether any bill she may propose in 2026 would include ending the rollback or other proposed changes. And while she did not share details on her plans, she did say “everything is on the table” as she meets with local governments, businesses and taxpayers to discuss how property taxes could be lowered.
“We’re taking what we hear at these roundtables, we’ll aggregate the information, if we start to see some consistency, some suggestions that they have, that’ll be a part of what we’ll take a look at when we … put that piece of legislation together,” Reynolds said.
Nordman, who will chair the House Ways and Means Committee beginning in 2026, said issues such as finding new “efficiencies” in local government as well as changes to the state’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) system and the 2023 property tax law have regularly been discussed as state and local leaders meet to discuss property taxes ahead of the 2026 session.
“Ultimately, the localities are the ones who are spending the money,” Nordman said. “And so they need to be at the table, willing to look at efficiencies and see how they can cut costs within their jurisdictions.”
While previous proposed measures have focused more exclusively on residential property taxes, Nordman said leaders have also discussed changes to commercial property taxes as well. However, he emphasized “we’re not married to anything now,” and the goal of Reynolds and GOP lawmakers’ meetings is to find the best path toward lowering property tax costs for Iowans.
“I think every single legislator is at the doors listening to the biggest concern of these individuals, and it’s property taxes,” Nordman said. “So, it’s definitely a priority for us.”
