2026-09-10 · Iowa · Legislation

Iowa voters will decide a tax amendment on November 3, 2026. It is an income tax amendment, and an association member who hears “tax amendment” and expects protection from levy increases will be disappointed. Senate Joint Resolution 11 was sent to the Secretary of State on May 11, 2026 as 2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1201.¹

What it would do

The resolution adds a new Article XIII, § 1 to the Iowa Constitution: “Passage of a bill that increases the individual income tax rate or the corporate income tax rate, or the rate of any other type of tax based upon income or legal and special reserves, shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the general assembly.” The same threshold applies to establishing any new income-based tax. Challenges to enactment must be brought within one year.²

Because it is a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment, it is not signed by the Governor. Iowa requires passage by two consecutive General Assemblies before a proposal reaches the ballot, and § 2 of the resolution records that it was “adopted and agreed to by the 90th General Assembly, 2024 Session, thereafter duly published, and now adopted and agreed to by the 91st General Assembly.” The Senate passed it 32-15 on April 15, 2025; the House 57-21 on May 2, 2026.

The sentence that decides the question

The resolution carries an express carve-out: “This requirement does not apply to taxes imposed at the option of a local government.”

Property tax is levied by counties, cities and school districts. It is precisely a tax imposed at the option of a local government, and it is therefore outside the amendment entirely.

Nothing else on the ballot reaches property

We looked, because the negative is the useful finding here. There is no property tax, property rights, or housing measure on Iowa's November 3, 2026 ballot.

Iowa's eminent domain fight — the carbon pipeline dispute that has run for several sessions — was conducted through ordinary bills rather than a constitutional amendment. A 2025 bill passed and was vetoed. In 2026 the House passed a version, the Senate offered a narrower one, and the chambers did not reconcile before sine die on May 3, 2026. Nothing from that fight goes to voters this year.

1. SJR 11 bill history, Iowa General Assembly (2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1201) ↩
2. SJR 11, enrolled text (PDF), Iowa General Assembly ↩
3. SF 2472, signed enrolled Act (the 2026 property tax overhaul), full text (PDF) ↩