Ames and its partners in the Iowa League of Cities are asserting their right to home rule, as city leaders across the state try to keep tax-reform legislation from becoming law.

Senate File 514, which addresses property tax reform, passed in the Senate during the previous legislative session, according to the Iowa State Legislature Web site, www.legis.state.ia.us.

An amendment that strikes all of the language from last year’s bill and replaces it with new language was proposed this session. The amendment currently is in the subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco, president-elect of the Iowa League of Cities, said the amendment is “bad legislation.”

The proposed amendments go against the “home rule” doctrine, upheld by the State Supreme Court in 1967, stating that local governments can rule themselves, he said.

Under the changes to the bill, the Legislature can vote to reduce state funding for a property tax credit with a three-fifths approval from each house. The money from the credit goes to family farms, low-income families, agricultural land, military personnel and others.

Previously, only the local governments could vote on this issue.

“Basically people around the state would be voting on issues affecting you locally,” Tedesco said.

The Iowa League of Cities also protests part of the amendment that would change local sales tax.

The new legislation states that if 5 percent of people who voted in the previous election petition for a change in the sales tax, the city must put the petition’s exact wording on a ballot.

Tedesco called this referendum government, reminiscent of California.

“The state of Iowa has never had referendum government, and if it’s changed on a local basis, then the state should change, too,” he said.

The bill passed in 2001 placed property-tax limits on cities, Tedesco said. While property tax reform is a good idea, he said, the Iowa League of Cities wants the state to study the entire property-tax system.

The ISU economics department conducted a study looking at how the surrounding states collected tax revenue, Tedesco said. The results showed other states rely more heavily on income and sales tax than property tax, he said.

Businesses are heavily affected by property taxes, and it is often a factor for Ames businesses when they are considering expansion or potentially coming to Ames, Tedesco said.

Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames, told local residents at the Legislative Wake-up forum Jan. 26 she is not in favor of the amendment, and hopes it dies a “quick death.”

There is a push, however, from other state agencies for the amendments to pass.

Don Petersen, director of public affairs for the Iowa Farm Bureau Association, said the bureau wants to reduce reliance on property taxes and give dollar-for-dollar tax relief.