The Iowa Senate passed a tax proposal earlier this month that would shift mental health and disability services funding from county property taxes, eliminate “triggers” that the state must hit in order for Iowans to see more income tax cuts in 2023, and eliminate the voter-approved Public Education and Recreation Levy, among other proposals.

District 39 State Senator Kevin Kinney (D) voted against the legislation and comments on the state-funded system proposal for mental health and disability services, which has caused concern for local county supervisors and the Southeast Iowa Link regional provider, “Part of the concern that I have with the mental health issue of it is making sure we have a sustainable funding source for our mental health, and so it doesn’t have to compete every year coming back to the legislature and the mental health people being in there trying to get their share.”

Kinney adds that lawmakers should be looking at a way to take mental health funding out of property taxes, but with a funding source that is stable. The bill which now sits in the House Ways and Means Committee would eliminate the property tax levy over two years and would establish an appropriation based on a per capita amount starting at $15.86 for fiscal year 2022, increasing to $42 in fiscal year 2025, and beyond would multiply the previous year’s appropriation by a growth factor indexed to sales tax growth not to exceed 1.5%.