The city of Iowa City is taking one of its own boards to court to contest the reclassification of a number of apartment properties to cooperatives, a tax-saving maneuver made possible by an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last year. The city, aiming to prevent 18 properties that previously were designated as commercial from becoming residential cooperatives, filed two appeals in district court this week challenging a pair of recent Iowa City Board of Review decisions. David Barker, an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Iowa and whose company, Barker Apartments, owns properties in Iowa City, Coralville and Davenport, points to a study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy last year that shows Iowa apartment owners paying the most taxes nationally. Barker said even after being reclassified to residential cooperative status, Iowa apartment owners would still pay 20 percent more than the national average.
[Read More...]