Capitol Notebook: Iowa lowers top corporate income tax rates

DES MOINES — Iowa's top corporate income tax rates will fall for the second year in a row to 7.1 percent.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a tax law in 2022 that included a trigger to decrease corporate tax rates if revenue exceeded $700 million. Taxes in fiscal year 2023 were $838 million, according to the Iowa Department of Revenue.

Based on the 2022 law's formula, corporate tax rates will fall to 7.1 percent in the highest two brackets. The tax rate for those brackets was 8.4 percent last year.

For businesses that bring in less than $100,000, the tax rate will remain at 5.5 percent, which is intended to be the flat tax rate for all businesses by 2028.

“Iowa businesses are growing because government is getting out of their way,” Reynolds said in a statement. “From cutting taxes and red tape to expanding economic freedom and opportunity, Iowa is growing and providing businesses and our people the freedom to flourish.”

The same 2022 law included individual income tax cuts, gradually phasing Iowa's tax rate at a flat 3.9 percent by tax year 2026. Iowa's revenue is expected to drop by $1.89 billion once the tax cuts take full effect.

AG: Police officer justified in shooting

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird's office released a report Friday determining that an August fatal shooting by a police officer was legally justified.

On Aug. 12, Polk County officials received multiple 911 calls because of gunshots being fired in a Pleasant Hill neighborhood.

The shooter, identified as Bradley Van Heeswyk, was shooting at a house at 404 Pleasant Circle.

Police officers from multiple agencies arrived and reported hearing gunshots from the address, according to the attorney general's report.

Two officers began approaching the house and saw Van Heeswyk in the backyard. Pleasant Hill Officer Steven Burroughs yelled at Van Heeswyk to drop his gun, the report says, and he did not comply.

Shortly after giving the command, Burroughs fired one shot at Van Heeswyk. He reported seeing Van Heeswyk, who was nude, waving a rifle in the air and attempting to climb a fence shortly after he fired the shot, the report says.

Officers handcuffed Van Heeswyk and began performing first aid, according to the report. He was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy confirmed the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the abdomen and lower torso.

Van Heeswyk had no known connection to the homeowners at 404 Pleasant Circle, the report said, but had had a relationship with someone who had lived there two years before.

The report found Burroughs acted with legal justification because Van Heeswyk posed an immediate threat to the officers and neighborhood residents.

"Van Heeswyk had already demonstrated a propensity to fire the rifle since multiple shots had already been fired just before and at the time of officers’ arrival to the area," the report stated. "Van Heeswyk failed to comply with the officers and instead continued the threat by refusing to disarm himself and end the confrontation created by him peacefully."

Boards/commissions committee sets final meeting

A state panel reviewing Iowa's boards and commissions and recommending some for elimination or consolidation will hold its final meeting Monday.

The meeting will be held in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the Iowa State Capitol.

The committee will discuss the draft of its final recommendations to the governor and the state Legislature. The committee is required to submit its final report by Sept. 30.

In the committee's preliminary recommendations, it recommended cutting or consolidating more than 100 state boards and commissions. Dozens of affected members and stakeholders showed up at a public hearing this month and argued against eliminating some boards.