Property Tax Reforms Discussed

As they head into the final stretch of developing Dubuque County’s budget for the next fiscal year, county officials now have vital answers to questions regarding the impacts of state property-tax reform, proposals for employee raises and potential improvement projects. All told, the Board of Supervisors has received far more funding requests — for major capital projects, employee raises and increased benefit costs, new positions and rising utility and other necessary costs — than county revenues are expected to support in the fiscal year starting July 1. Revenues likely will be limited in part by the Iowa Legislature’s 2023 property tax reform — though less than officials feared — to the point supervisors think many needs expressed by department heads will not be satisfied by existing revenue streams.