The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate Bill 511 restricts tax increment financing and revitalization exemptions for new gaming facilities
Last action · March 11, 2025: Subcommittee: Dawson, Bisignano, and Rowley. S.J. 491 .
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 511 prohibits new or existing urban renewal plans and revitalization areas from including properties owned by gambling licensees licensed on or after January 1, 2025, or commercial and nonprofit properties directly benefiting them. It also excludes these properties from tax increment financing revenue divisions and local option tax funding, taking effect immediately upon enactment.
- Urban renewal and urban revitalization laws in Iowa allow municipalities to deploy tools like tax increment financing to stimulate local development and redevelopment. context
- Chapter 99F of the Iowa Code governs the regulation of gambling games and sports wagering within the state. context
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.
licensees under chapter 99F first issued a license on or after January 1, 2025
New gaming licensees are barred from being included in urban renewal plans, receiving urban revitalization tax exemptions, or benefiting from tax increment financing allocations.
municipalities
Municipalities must collect taxes against new gaming and directly benefiting properties without limitation by tax increment financing provisions and must exclude those properties from urban renewal plans.
Key Facts
- Urban renewal plans adopted or amended before, on, or after the effective date of the Act cannot include projects related to property owned and operated by a chapter 99F licensee first licensed on or after January 1, 2025, or directly benefiting properties.
- Taxes levied against property owned and operated by a chapter 99F licensee first issued a license on or after January 1, 2025, or its direct beneficiaries, are excluded from tax increment financing (TIF) revenue divisions and must be collected against all taxable property without limitation.
- Urban revitalization tax exemptions authorized under chapter 404 shall not apply to property owned and operated by a chapter 99F licensee first licensed on or after January 1, 2025, or its direct beneficiaries.
- Revitalization areas under chapter 404 cannot include property owned and operated by a chapter 99F licensee first licensed on or after January 1, 2025, or its direct beneficiaries.
Show all 8 facts
- Increased local option tax revenues under section 423B.10 shall not be used for any purpose related to property owned and operated by a chapter 99F licensee first licensed on or after January 1, 2025, or its direct beneficiaries.
- The Act takes effect immediately upon enactment.
- Provisions regarding revitalization exemptions apply retroactively to assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.
- Provisions amending tax increment financing under section 403.19 apply to property taxes due and payable in fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which gaming facilities are affected by this bill?
Does the bill apply retroactively?
When do the tax increment financing changes take effect?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
13 actions- Mar 11, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Dawson, Bisignano, and Rowley. S.J. 491 .
- Mar 6, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Ways and Means. S.J. 427 .
- Mar 4, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 409 .
- Mar 4, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 403 .
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 511 .
- Feb 26, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
Show 7 earlier actions
- Feb 24, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/26/2025 12:00PM RM 304.1.
- Feb 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 19, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Siegrist, Determann and Wichtendahl. H.J. 363 .
- Feb 19, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Local Government. H.J. 361 .
- Feb 19, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/20/2025 11:00AM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Feb 19, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee: Webster, Driscoll, and Weiner.
- Feb 19, 2025Iowa LegislatureIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Local Government.
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- Significance50How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools
