Strong communities keep Iowa strong

When people think about local government, they often picture the things they see every day: the street plowed after a snowstorm, the park where their kids play, the firetruck that responds when someone calls for help. Those services are funded by property taxes, and in small towns like mine, every single dollar is stretched as far as it can go.

I serve on the city council in Bennett, a community of about 350 people in Eastern Iowa. Like most small towns, we’re proud of what we accomplish with limited resources. But I also hear regularly from neighbors who are worried about rising costs, not just in their household budgets, but on their property tax bills. Those concerns are real. They’re also the same concerns we share as local officials who have to balance the books each year.

City leaders want property taxes to remain affordable because we pay them, too. We’re your neighbors and business owners, not distant bureaucrats. We drive the same roads, depend on the same utilities, and send our kids to the same schools. When something isn’t working, residents don’t have to go far to find us, they’ll tell us about it at the grocery store, the coffee shop, or the next ballgame. That accountability is what keeps local government grounded.

The conversation about property taxes in Iowa has grown louder in recent years, and understandably so. But sometimes that conversation paints cities as if we’re part of the problem, as if spending at the local level is unchecked or unnecessary. The truth is far more complicated, especially in small communities where even minor cost increases have major impacts.

In Bennett, just like in hundreds of Iowa towns, we’re seeing costs rise for things outside our control. Asphalt, insurance, fire trucks, and building materials all cost significantly more than they did even a few years ago. We can’t simply choose not to replace a snowplow or repair a water main, those services keep our communities safe and functioning. When costs go up, we have to find ways to adjust, often by delaying projects or cutting elsewhere.

At the same time, residents rightly expect us to keep our communities strong and attractive. They want safe streets, clean water, reliable emergency response, and parks and libraries that bring people together. Balancing those expectations with financial realities isn’t easy. But local governments do it every day, not by spending recklessly, but by planning carefully and looking for efficiencies wherever possible.

What’s often overlooked in the statewide debate is that cities are also key partners in Iowa’s economic success. When businesses consider where to invest, they look at the health of local infrastructure, housing options, and community amenities. Those are areas cities manage directly. A strong local foundation supports the state’s broader goals for growth, workforce, and competitiveness.

That’s why local decision-making matters. No two Iowa communities are exactly alike. Some towns choose to keep taxes very low and focus narrowly on core services. Others invest more heavily in amenities that reflect what their residents value. Both approaches can be right, because both are grounded in local choice and accountability. That flexibility is what makes our state’s patchwork of cities work.

As lawmakers prepare to debate property tax legislation this session, I hope they’ll remember that cities share the same goals they do: keeping Iowa affordable, competitive, and resilient. But we need the tools and stability to meet those goals. One-size-fits-all limits or assumptions about “runaway spending” won’t solve the problem, they’ll simply make it harder for small towns to keep up with the basics.

Iowa’s cities aren’t asking for special treatment. We’re asking to be treated as partners — trusted to manage responsibly and to continue delivering the services that residents expect and deserve. Local leaders are ready to collaborate on solutions that make sense for our communities and for the state as a whole.

If we keep that partnership at the center of the conversation, we can make meaningful progress together, keeping property taxes reasonable without sacrificing the things that make Iowa a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

Christina Eicher is a city council member in Bennett, city clerk of Lisbon, and president of the Iowa League of Cities.