Small businesses slow to apply for new Iowa tax credit

Commercial property owners have been slow to apply for a new property tax credit designed to give a little boost to small businesses.

Most business owners who own the property in which the business operates are eligible for the Iowa Business Property Tax Credit.

A $50 million pool of money is available for the first year of the new tax credit. The state legislature included the credit in an historic property tax relief bill signed into law on June 12.

"It is important they get them in now so we can process them," said Cedar Rapids City Assessor Scott Labus.

Applications for the tax credit for 2013 are due by Jan. 15, 2014.

The Cedar Rapids Assessor's Office mailed out 3,190 letters to businesses, and it received 720 applications, a return rate of about 23 percent.

In Iowa City, approximately 150 of 1,000 eligible businesses have applied for their credit, said Brad Comer, chief deputy assessor in the Iowa City Assessor's Office.

"We have a lot to go," he said.

For the first year, the businesses are eligible for a credit of up to $523, but the credit is expected to increase to nearly $2,000 in the coming years, Labus said.

Most commercial properties are eligible. Some exceptions include agricultural property, hotels and motels, apartment buildings, mobile home parks and nursing homes.

Applications are available at the assessor's office and

online.