Iowa Gov. Gov. Kim Reynolds is putting her proposed elimination of the state’s income tax on the back burner while focusing on property tax reform in the 2026 legislative session.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Reynolds, who is not seeking re-election next year, has heavily emphasized tax cutting – the state’s individual income tax rate dropped to a flat 3.8% rate in January. In 2023, she proposed achieving a “zero individual income tax rate by the end of this second term” during a 2023 speech.
However, in an interview this weekend she said that it “would be aggressive” if she pursued both property tax and income tax at the same time. Legislation that would have limited most property tax levy rates to 2% annual growth failed to achieve a floor vote in the recently concluded 2025 legislative session.
“I want to create a foundation that when I do leave, the next Republican governor that sits in that chair will be able to continue to reduce the individual income tax rate,” said Reynolds. “But I do need to focus on property taxes. That is what we hear about all the time.”
Reynolds acknowledged that cutting property taxes would also require a new consideration of “how we deliver services to our citizens,” adding it would not be possible to continue the “level of government that we have and expect the property taxes to go lower.”
“It’s disruptive, but that means people are going to probably be a little uncomfortable, and we’ll have the conversation,” Reynolds said. “And I’m not going to wait until January to have it. We’re going to have it all summer as we’re working on it.”
Photo courtesy of Gov. Reynold’s Facebook page
