Helland Will Work on Property Tax Reform

With the 2012 Legislative Session freshly under way, Rep. Erik Helland (R-Johnston) has been busy working on ways to lower the property tax rate for businesses without shifting it to homeowners.

Helland, the House majority whip, said, "We need to address commercial property taxes without shifting the burden onto residential taxpayers."

What do you want to learn about the 2012 legislative session? What issues matter to you?

Last year, legislators went head to head on the issue of reducing commercial property taxes, but couldn't come up with a measure that would gain passage.

Early this week, a House subcommittee considered a bill to reduce the tax burden on commercial businesses. According to a Des Moines Register article, the bill would drop the commercial tax rate over 14 years until rates were reduced by 40 percent.

When the Johnston City Council discussed the 2012-13 fiscal year's budget Tuesday, the discussion included a possible increase to the .

"It's an important issue from an economic standpoint" Helland said. "Property taxes are hurting business development here. To put Iowans back to work this is a crucial issue.

While Helland co-sponsor several bills during the legislative session, there are a few issues at the top of the list.

"Our budget is huge, we need to make sure we're going to spend less than we bring in," he said. "We'll be talking about education reform, that will be important for all Iowans, not just funding but about standards and how we educate our children."

Just two weeks into the session things are going well, Helland said.

"I enjoy the work and I think every state representative truly enjoys it," he said. "It's great to be back and get going."

Constituents can contact Helland at erik@helland.com.

Check back with Johnston Patch for legislative updates from Helland.