With rural property taxes climbing and the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline advancing toward a major summer hearing, Buena Vista County residents turned out Saturday to press lawmakers on two of the most consequential issues facing northwest Iowa.
About 45 people attended the March Storm Lake Legislative Forum at the Sunrise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse, featuring Sen. Lynn Evans of Aurelia and Rep. Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids. The event, moderated by Storm Lake Mayor Meg McKeon, drew local officials, community members, and political contenders.
Lawmakers opened with updates from the Capitol, where the second funnel deadline has narrowed the list of bills still eligible for debate. Jones noted that despite frustrations between chambers, the numbers show a balanced process, with the Senate killing 42 House bills and the House killing 21 Senate bills.
But the forum quickly shifted to two issues dominating this year’s session: property tax reform and the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, including discussions surrounding eminent domain.
CO₂ Pipeline & Eminent Domain
A Buena Vista County landowner asked for an update on House File 2104—the House‑passed bill restricting eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines—and raised concerns about new filings from Summit Carbon Solutions.
The company is proposing a 2,500-mile, multi‑state carbon dioxide pipeline network that would collect CO₂ from ethanol plants and transport it to North Dakota for underground sequestration. The Iowa Utilities Board approved Summit’s permit in 2024, but the project has been stalled by court challenges, county‑level zoning disputes, and ongoing landowner resistance.
Summit’s new filing with the IUB earlier this month seeks to amend its Phase I permit, reroute portions of the pipeline, and consolidate Phase I and Phase II into a single July 8 hearing in Fort Dodge, with satellite locations in affected counties. Those changes come as Summit continues working to secure voluntary easements in northwest Iowa, where landowner resistance has been strong. Landowners say the changes raise new questions about route certainty, safety, and whether Summit has met Iowa’s “good‑faith negotiation” requirements before using eminent domain.
While supporters frame the project as an economic boost for the ethanol industry, opponents—including many in Buena Vista, Cherokee, and Pocahontas counties—argue that private companies shouldn’t be able to use eminent domain for a project they say offers no public benefit.
Evans has been one of the most outspoken Republicans against the pipeline. He reiterated that position during Saturday’s forum.
Evans said he has been working to ensure landowners have direct access to Senate leadership, including Majority Leader Jack Whitver, something he said was lacking earlier in the process.
He acknowledged that the Senate has not advanced House File 2104, but said he’s prepared to take a firmer stand if necessary, referencing last year’s internal standoff over the same issue.
Jones noted she is legally required to recuse herself from pipeline votes due to a family conflict of interest.
Property Tax Overhaul
The largest portion of the forum centered on property taxes—an issue both Evans and Jones said they hear about more than any other.
Buena Vista County Supervisor Kathy Croker urged lawmakers to consider the impact of exemptions and growth caps on rural counties, especially when the state creates new credits without backfilling them.
Jones outlined the three competing proposals from the House, Senate, and governor. She said the House plan focuses on broad, across‑the‑board relief.
Evans said he supports the Senate’s flexible cap tied to inflation, but warned that senior‑specific exemptions—including the Senate’s proposal to eliminate property taxes for homeowners aged 60 and older who have paid off their homes—could devastate small towns.
Both lawmakers emphasized that the Legislative Services Agency, or LSA, has been running extensive financial modeling on all three property tax proposals—and that the complexity of Iowa’s property tax system makes that work unusually heavy.
LSA is the nonpartisan fiscal analysis arm of the Legislature. When lawmakers propose changes to levies, exemptions, or caps, LSA must simulate how those changes affect every city, county, and school district in Iowa. That includes:
- how much revenue each local government would lose,
- whether the state would need to backfill it,
- how inflation or valuation changes would alter the impact,
- and whether the proposal shifts costs onto other taxpayers.
Evans said the modeling is so intensive that it has, at times, halted all other fiscal reviews at the Capitol.
Jones added that the House requested multiple rounds of modeling last year—and ultimately walked away from its own bill because the numbers didn’t work.
Evans said that while Iowans consistently demand property tax relief, the modeling shows how difficult it is to cut taxes without cutting services—especially in rural communities with aging populations.
He also urged residents to engage directly with local governments, noting that property tax frustration rarely translates into attendance at city, county, or school budget hearings.
Other Topics
The forum also included questions about Iowa Highway 7 road conditions between Storm Lake and the Pocahontas County line, beaver conservation and their role in water quality and flood mitigation, parental rights and gender‑related care for minors, and geoengineering and cloud seeding.
The next Storm Lake Legislative Forum is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, April 18, at the Sunrise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse. The event is open to the public and free of charge.
