A county assessor in Iowa reassesses a commercial property owned by Marcus and increases its assessed value by 22% in a single assessment year. Marcus's attorney argues that Iowa law limits how much assessed value can increase in a single year for certain property classes. The assessor responds that the increase reflects the property's true actual value as required by law. Which statement BEST describes the legal framework governing this dispute under Iowa law?

Correct Answer

A) Iowa requires assessment at 100% of actual value with no statutory annual cap on increases; however, the rollback factor limits the growth of taxable value for residential property, not commercial property

Under Iowa Code § 441.21, all property must be assessed at 100% of actual (market) value, and there is no statutory annual cap on how much an assessed value may increase in a single year — the assessor's obligation is to reflect true market value. Iowa's assessment limitation rollback (Iowa Code § 441.21(4)) does limit the growth of taxable value, but critically, the rollback historically has applied primarily to agricultural and residential property classes. Commercial and industrial property classes have had different rollback treatment, and in many years commercial property has been taxed at or near 90% of assessed value rather than receiving the same rollback reduction as residential property. Therefore, Marcus does not receive the same rollback protection as a residential owner, and the assessor is legally correct that the assessed value must reflect actual value. Marcus's proper remedy is to protest to the Board of Review under § 441.37, not to claim a statutory cap was violated.