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WEST DES MOINES EMBRACES TAXATION BY SPECIAL FAVOR

October 25, 2006

As expected, the West Des Moines city council adopted a proposal to provide tax breaks for large businesses moving in. The Des Moines Register reports:

West Des Moines' policy sets high standards, officials said. Businesses must have a total assessed valuation of $20 million or more, and the company must retain or create 500 full-time jobs during the life of the rebate. Such a business would provide about $200,000 a year in taxes to the city's general budget.

From the looks of things, it looks like this is only available to big new businesses moving in. Yet there may be other ways to get this break - if you have friends on the city council:

Councilman Brad Olson said he wanted to know if other businesses that didn't meet all of the city's requirements would be allowed to apply for the tax rebate.

City Attorney Dick Scieszinski said this is the standard the city has set but that it can always be reviewed.

"This is a discretionary policy with the city. ... The council can always take a look at the applicant" and decide to grant them the rebate, Scieszinski said.

This seems to mean there are two ways to qualify for the new property tax break: you can either meet a long list of quantifiable standards, or you can achieve a single quantifiable standard: 3 votes at a city council meeting. Not exactly a recipe for good government.

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