Casino seeks to lower property taxes

Lakeside Hotel and Casino has filed an appeal with the Clarke County Board of Review to lower the valuation of the facility by $5.4 million dollars. It would be a hefty loss to the tax base in Osceola and throughout Clarke County, resulting in $217,265.80 less money being paid into property taxes, increasing the burden on homeowners and small business.

Taxation issues

Clarke County, like many of the counties in southern Iowa, suffers from a high rate of taxation due to low lower property values. In the north part of the state, farmland is more lucrative and assessed at higher values. This allows the city and county governments to spread the tax burden more equally among city and rural developments.

Quite a bit of rural land in Clarke County is made of forest reserve or CRP acres. Little money is made off the land and the assessed value -- and taxes due -- are very low, leading homes, businesses and owners of higher producing land to shoulder the majority of the tax burden on their own. Lowering the value of the casino by such a large amount will increase the tax burden on everyone else. The question is whether the value of the building has really fallen as far as operators contest.

A matter of maintenance

“Lakeside said in the Board of Review session they didn’t have a problem with the land value. It was the improvements they felt should be adjusted,” said Clarke County Assessor Paul Winship. “The issues were deferred maintenance, casino leakage and numerous other items.”

Rumors circulated at the City Council meeting Tuesday, June 25, that the appeal was in response to an increase in contributions to the Clarke County Development Corporation, which doubled when a change in casino ownership led to contracts renewed under new state minimums. No one from the casino was available for comments.

In related news

According to new assessment laws, nursing facilities like Southern Hills Specialty Care, owned by Care Initiatives, are considered multi-residential versus residential, as it has been taxed on in the past. Winship applied for an adjustment to the home’s calculated taxes, however, there is a series of substantial rollbacks which eventually will match residential rates.

“Their tax liability increased and will drop annually the amount shown if the petition is upheld,” said Winship.

“I know one of Paul’s concerns is that his office, which runs on a fairly limited budget, has to fund the legal fees,” said City Administrator Ty Wheeler during the meeting.

“We will go on,” said Winship, “only thing is the taxpayer loses.”