Why do local governments believe they need so much of your money? In recent years, Iowa property valuations have increased considerably. Large valuation increases usually translate into increased revenue for local governments in the form of property taxes.

ITR Foundation Research Director Sarah Curry joins the podcast to talk about what's facing the people of Indianola. Several different tax authorities are all making big new demands of property taxpayers. The city has two new bond issues for a new public safety building and a library with a cost of $62.2 million. The school district is planning to build a new high school with an estimated price tag between $71 million and $144 million, and Warren County is opening a new justice center that was $10 million over budget, coming in roughly 30% more expensive than planned.

How can they justify all of this spending? As one county supervisor explained, "When our tax revenues and property valuations are going up every year, it's easy."

https://itrfoundation.org/its-easy-to-spend-taxpayer-dollars/

https://www.itrlocal.org/

ITR's Chris Hagenow, Chris Ingstad and Ernie Adkison get together to discuss chickens, bounce houses and pressure washers along with a few other random topics.

The results of Iowa's primary elections. Big wins for Republican United States Senator Chuck Grassley and his opponent Micheal Franken. State Senator Zach Nunn wins big and will now be the Republican nominee against Congresswoman Cindy Axne.

The guys spend much of their time on the show discussing several hotly contested primaries for the Iowa House of Representatives. Who are some of these future legislators and how did they win?  

Host Chris Hagenow was recently named President of Iowans for Tax Relief and is joined by new ITR Foundation President Chris Ingstad to discuss their new roles within the ITR family of organizations. The Chris's talk about why the future is bright not only for their organizations, but more importantly for the future of the state of Iowa.   

After explaining the importance of Iowa's upcoming Republican legislative primary elections, the conversation turns to why Iowa's immediate future may not be quite as "bright" as we first thought.

This has been the most pro-taxpayer legislative session in recent history and will create a better and brighter future for Iowa.  

When legislators returned to the Iowa Capitol in January, ITR encouraged them to "think big and don't back down" and that it was "time to seize the opportunity to create a better and brighter future for Iowa."  The 3.9% flat tax passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Reynolds does exactly that.  

The inaugural episode of ITR's podcast sets forth our vision for the future of Iowa. We discuss our vision for Iowa along with what happened at the Capitol to make this year the most pro-taxpayer legislative session in recent history. 

https://taxrelief.org/better-stronger-more-conservative/