Tax reform is top of mind

MARION - Tax reform is the name of the game for both candidates in the race for Iowa House District 68.

How to achieve that reform, however, is where challenger Ken Rizer, R-Cedar Rapids, and incumbent first term Rep. Daniel Lundby, D-Marion, split.

District 68 covers Marion, Bertram, Ely and parts of Linn County.

Rizer, a career military man who retired as a Colonel in the United States Air Force in 2012 after 29 years, is a proponent of a 4.5 percent flat tax.

'I've met a lot of families,” Rizer said this month. 'They've got a mortgage, kids in pre-K, both parents are working and they're living paycheck to paycheck. The cost of government is going up ...

I think having a tax reform of a 4.5 percent flat tax would give all of them some relief and generate more economic development.

'It would great more jobs, better paying jobs.”

Lundby, who grew up in politics - his mother, Mary Lundby, served in the Iowa House from 1987 to 1995 and the Iowa Senate from 1995 to 2009 - prefers to address property taxes by investing in Iowa's schools.

'This will allow local school boards to not be forced to raise their tax levy,” Lundby said.

Lundby also is borrowing an idea from a constituent - freezing property taxes for older homes. Lundby said in communities such as Marion, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary, many homes are old, historic and have higher maintenance costs. A property tax freeze for homes 100 years old would provide homeowners with more cost certainty in their taxes and allow them to set aside more money for the upkeep of their homes, he said.

Rizer, the former commander of Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, also is a proponent of overhauling the road use tax formula to put a greater emphasis on secondary roads.

'The road use tax fund formula focuses on primary roads instead of secondary roads,” he said. 'Secondary roads and bridges are having the most problems. I'm interested in looking at the formula to put more of an emphasis on the roads that need fixing.”

Lundby said he wants to pick up a topic that his mother was passionate about - water quality. Lundby said he has fond memories of fishing at the lake at Kent State Park in rural Johnson County. Today, however, that lake is polluted.

The legislature tried to pass measures to protect Iowa's lakes and rivers, including those aimed at reducing nitrogen run off from Iowa farms, but those measures were vetoed by Gov. Terry Branstad.

'Every year we sit on it, the problem grows,” Lundby said. 'The federal government will step in and dictate what our farmers can and cannot do and we need to avoid that.”

Election Day is Nov. 4.

Candidate Bios:

Daniel Lundby

' Age: 38

' Political party: Democrat

' Hometown: Marion

' Occupation: Graphic/textile designer

' Previous political experience: Incumbent

' Highest education: Master of science, Iowa State University

Ken Rizer

' Age: 50

' Political party: Republican

' Hometown: Marion Township

' Occupation: Not-for-profit senior executive

' Previous political experience: None

' Highest education: Master of public administration, Harvard; master of business administration, University of Iowa