University Heights voters approve local-option sales tax

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — University Heights will join the majority of Iowa cities with enacting a local-option sales tax after residents voted in favor of the 1 percent tax Tuesday.

Voters OK’d the sales tax by 74 percent, with 76 “yes“ ballots and 24 ”no“ ballots. The tax needed 50 percent approval to pass.

Turnout was 14 percent of the city’s 722 active registered voters.

The new tax will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025, raising the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent in the city of 1,100.

Half the revenue raised from the tax will be used for property tax relief. The other half can be used for “public safety, including law enforcement, parks and recreation, public infrastructure, economic development, and City administration,” according to ballot language.

Mayor Louise From said during the city council’s Tuesday night meeting that the voter approval was “good news.”

The University Heights property tax levy in fiscal 2024 was $11.79 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. The rate in Iowa City, which surrounds University Heights, was $15.63.

Voters in Swisher, Solon, Lone Tree and Hills in Johnson County passed similar local-option sales tax measures in the mid-2010s. Tiffin passed a local-option sales tax last fall to help pay for projects such as a recreation center, fire station and a park.

In 2014, 54 percent of those voting in University Heights and other municipalities — Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and Tiffin — rejected a local-option sales tax.

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