City of Newton officials stress property taxes are not increasing by 11%

Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler and his staff are “willing to sit down with any resident” and show them how their property taxes will not be going up by 11 percent, a claim that has been circulating through the city’s Facebook comments and one which every council adamantly refutes as untrue.

“We’ll pull your individual property and show you what your taxes look like in FY24 compared to FY23,” Muckler said. “We can talk to you about what you’re going to pay. We’ve had a couple jumps with residential … (But) a lot of what you’re seeing in this is going to be on the commercial paying customers.”

Residents voiced their concerns to council members during a public hearing Feb. 20 to approve the maximum property tax dollars for fiscal year 2024. The maximum property tax dollars for the affected levies in Newton is $7,946,354, which is an increase of $788,290 from fiscal year 2023, or 11.01 percent.

Several of the comments online are focusing on the 11.01 percent growth in revenue, seeing it as an outright increase in property taxes. Council members Melissa Dalton, Mark Hallam and Vicki Wade clarified taxes are not increasing by that amount, but rather that is the amount of extra revenue the city is receiving.

“Nobody’s taxes are increasing,” Dalton said. “…I got phone calls today about this, too, and was trying to explain it. Nobody’s taxes are going up 11 percent, or whatever it ends up to be; that 8 or 9 percent. That’s just the amount of money coming in from the increase that people did see on their assessed values.”

Errors made by the Iowa Legislature in 2021 have affected local governments during a crucial budgeting time. According to a report by the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Robin Opsahl, the property tax law gave governments more money than intended, which Newton will see a reduction in increased revenue.

As a result of the error, the city will be taking in about $300,000 less in revenue from property taxes.

Finance officer Lisa Frasier said the city is still waiting on the new numbers from the auditor’s office. Frasier and Muckler estimate increased revenue will be 8 or 9 percent. The jump in revenue also comes from the re-assessed commercial properties bringing in more property taxes to the city.

Still, the confusion sparked concern from residents and business owners. Clinton Webster, owner of The Thunderdome, said he looks at the situation in the same way as he would his business. If he started charging people to come in the doors at $20 a piece just to pay himself, he doesn’t feel that’s right.

“In order to balance a budget, it’s my job as a business owner … to make sure if we want to increase salaries that we’re doing everything we can to cut the fat, to cut expenses, to really start to dig deep into every dime that’s being spent,” he said. “I’m all for salary increases.”

But looking at an 11 percent hike in taxes to be able to make that happen, he added, that “directly affects me in a big way.” Webster noted he is probably missing some points or information about the issue but still wanted to share his thoughts.

Mary Cass, of Newton, said her last tax increase was $528 a year. An 11 percent increase, she claimed, would be another $430 a year; or, in total, a roughly $1,000 increase in her property taxes in two years. Cass is a single mother who works two jobs. It is getting hard, she said, to stay at her property.

“I have a lot of friends that have moved to Des Moines because what they get for their taxes they can justify,” she said. “There’s shopping. There are jobs. There are movies. It’s hard. It’s getting harder and harder. And I worry about elderly people who are on fixed incomes and cannot continue to absorb these (expenses).”

While council members quelled some of these worries, staff noted the new numbers following the correction to the state’s error will eventually be provided to officials for approval at a future council meeting.