Forbes, Brown Wrestle With Reforming Commerical Property Tax Rates at House District 40 Forum

Editor's Note: House District 40 candidates John Forbes and Mike Brown discussed a number of issues at a candidate forum on Wednesday afternoon at the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Urbandale Patch will run a series of stories highlighting the candidate's responses and stances to issues.

House District 40 candidates Mike Brown and John Forbes agree Iowa's high commercial property tax rate hurts businesses, but they differ on how to fix the formula.

When asked how they would work to correct the current commercial property tax problem during Wednesday's Urbandale Chamber of Commerce legislative forum, both candidates laid out their ideas for commerical tax reform.

"Iowa is the third highest in the nation when industrial commercial property tax rates," Brown said. "What we need to talk about is real comprehensive tax reforms across the board. We're talking tax cuts, not credits."

Brown used his experience as a small business owner to illustrate the problem.

"As a small business owner, my landlord charges me more rent each month because his rate goes up," he said. "It's tough for a small business to get off the ground, I can't imagine what it is at larger levels."

Forbes, who owns and operates the Medicap Pharmacy in Urbandale, said as the owner of three commercial properties he'd like to see a big reduction, but wonders at what cost.

"The problem I have is coming up with a fair formula that works for everybody in Iowa," he said. "If reduced by 40 percent, the city of Urbandale takes a hit of $2 to $3 million per year on the city budget. Being on the city council, that's a big concern to me."

Forbes questioned how the city would make up that deficit.

"Are we going to cut police and fire?" he posed. "I don't want to. Are we going to cut parks and recreation? Urbandale is known for its trails. If we do this, the only way to make it work is to possibly shift commercial property tax to residential property owners and I don't think that's fair."

Forbes said it's a tough decision to make.

See our previous House District 40 stories:

• See Who Likes John Forbes; Supporters Eat Brats and Burgers