By BILL SHEA

bshea@messengernews.net

Iowa lawmakers have been talking about doing something with property taxes since the legislative session began in early January. Now the state Senate is getting ready to advance a proposal.

State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R- Fort Dodge, said during an Eggs and Issues forum Saturday that he expects the Senate to vote on its property tax bill within the next two weeks. But that bill won’t be the final word on property taxes this year, he said.

There are property tax plans developed by Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives. What finally emerges will be a compromise, he said.

“It won’t be one or the other,” Kraayenbrink said. “It will be a combination or blended version for property taxes.”

During the forum, lawmakers also expressed some frustration with education, which consumes millions of dollars worth of state money each year, but reports still emerge of students getting to college without adequate reading skills.

State Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, said the cause of some of the problems can be found outside of the classroom.

“We’ve got kids that do not have the support at home,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s a failure of our school systems,” she added. “I think it’s somewhat of a failure of our greater society.”

Kraayenbrink and Meyer were joined at the forum by state Sen. Jesse Green, R- Boone, and state Rep. Wendy Larson, R- Odebolt.

About 30 people attended the forum at Iowa Central Community College. Eggs and Issues is sponsored by the college and the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.

For a complete report on the forum, see Monday’s edition of The Messenger.