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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate Bill 609 allows property tax relief for surviving spouses of emergency services members killed in the line of duty
Last action · January 20, 2026: Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
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What This Bill Would Do
Surviving spouses of firefighters, peace officers, correctional officers, and emergency medical care providers killed in the line of duty can petition their county board of supervisors to cancel property taxes and s on their . The measure takes effect upon enactment and applies retroactively to assessment years starting on or after January 1, 2025.
Qualifying surviving spouses can eliminate property tax burdens on their primary residences, shifting financial liabilities among local taxing authorities depending on individual board approvals and objections.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Surviving spouses of emergency services members
Surviving spouses gain the legal right to petition for property tax and special assessment abatements on their homesteads.
County boards of supervisors
Boards of supervisors are responsible for receiving petitions, forwarding them to taxing authorities, determining eligibility, and ordering tax abatements.
Local taxing authorities
Taxing authorities receive copies of abatement petitions and have the option to object within 30 days to protect their specific tax levies and assessments.
Key Facts
- Surviving spouses of emergency services members killed in the line of duty may file a petition for property tax abatement with the county board of supervisors where their homestead is located.
- Eligible emergency services members include firefighters, peace officers, correctional officers, emergency medical care providers, and volunteer emergency services providers.
- Petitions require a certification of good standing from the chief officer of the deceased member's agency and proof that death resulted directly from a traumatic line-of-duty injury.
- Tax abatement is barred if the death was caused by intentional misconduct, voluntary intoxication, gross negligence of the member, or if the petitioner substantially contributed to the death.
Show all 8 facts
- Petitions must be submitted on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue, and the board of supervisors forwards copies to each affected taxing authority.
- Individual taxing authorities may file an objection within 30 days to exclude their specific levies or special assessments from the abatement.
- The board of supervisors can order tax abatement for the current assessment year and future years, subject to the petitioner continuing to qualify.
- The Act takes effect upon enactment and applies retroactively to assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who qualifies as an emergency services member under this bill?
How does a surviving spouse apply for the property tax abatement?
Can taxing authorities block the tax abatement?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
16 actions- Jan 20, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
- Jan 13, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 01/20/2026 1:30PM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Jan 12, 2026SenateSubcommittee: Dickey, Taylor, and Townsend. S.J. 41 .
- Jan 12, 2026Iowa Legislature* * * * * END OF 2025 ACTIONS * * * * *
- Jun 16, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Ways and Means. S.J. 1058 .
- Mar 19, 2025SenateCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 609 . S.J. 589 .
Show 10 earlier actions
- Mar 19, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 589 .
- Mar 19, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on Ways and Means calendar. S.J. 587 .
- Mar 13, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Mar 12, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 03/13/2025 10:00AM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Feb 5, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 5, 2025HouseSubcommittee Meeting: 02/05/2025 8:00AM House Lounge 2.
- Jan 23, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Vondran, Behn and Wilson. H.J. 123 .
- Jan 22, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Dickey, Dawson, and Townsend. S.J. 125 .
- Jan 16, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Ways and Means. H.J. 86 .
- Jan 14, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Ways and Means. S.J. 66 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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