Throughout the years I’ve been in public service in Iowa, from a local school board, to the legislature and to the utilities commission, and now with Bright Future Iowa, I’ve sat across the table from county supervisors, mayors, school board members, and community leaders in every corner of the state. And I always hear some version of the same concern: how do we keep our community growing, keep our schools strong, keep our roads in good shape, without putting more burden on the families and seniors who are already stretched thin?
It’s a tough question.
So, I want to share an answer, one based on solid data. How do we keep our communities growing? We look to the future and invest in crucial infrastructure. Let’s look at Iowa’s long history with wind.
As we look toward the future, I hope we can build on what’s already working. It’s what Bright Future Iowa is working toward. Our families, our county budgets, and our Main Streets have benefited from renewable energy. I believe they can benefit even more.
Wind energy has been quietly easing the property tax burden on Iowa families.
When a wind project comes to a county, it provides a new line of taxable revenue that doesn’t come out of local homeowners’ pockets. It shows up, year after year, as a new source of funding for schools and local governments.
The data on this is clear. Homeowners living in school districts with wind farms pay, on average, about $194 less per year in property taxes than residents in districts with no wind turbines at all. And looked at more broadly, property taxes in districts without wind development are running 26% higher than in districts with it.
For county leaders, wind energy has offered a real alternative to the old choice between cutting services or raising taxes.
I know that choice well. I’ve sat in budget meetings where it felt like there were only two options on the table, and neither were good. But the counties that have embraced renewable energy have found a better way: growing the tax base itself, without tax increases.
Since 2010, wind and solar development have added $1.22 billion in new tax revenue to Iowa’s counties, cities, and school districts. That’s $1.22 billion that didn’t require a single levy increase, money that’s gone toward roads, emergency services, and classrooms.
When I look at counties like Adams and O’Brien, which have significant wind development, I see local governments that have been able to expand what they can offer their residents while keeping their levy rates right in line with neighboring counties that don’t have wind. That’s the kind of fiscal stability every county leader I talk to is hoping for.
And here’s the part that really struck me: the gap between wind counties and non-wind counties is widening, in favor of the wind counties.
Iowa’s Common Sense Institute compared similar pairs of counties, Adams next to Ringgold, O’Brien next to Lyon, places with similar populations, similar agricultural economies, similar everything except one thing: wind development. Over the same stretch of years, homeowner property taxes in the non-wind counties rose 40% to 86% faster than in their wind-producing neighbors.
I think about what that means for a retired farmer on a fixed income, or a young family trying to put down roots. A property tax bill that’s growing 40-86% slower, year over year, adds up to real breathing room.
It’s not just about taxes — it’s about Main Street too.
Economic development leaders ask me all the time: does this actually translate into activity on the ground — more customers, more business, more life in our downtowns? The answer, based on the data, is yes.
During construction of wind projects in Adams County, taxable sales per capita grew by 6.3% and later by 11.4%, while neighboring Ringgold County, without wind, saw sales decline during those same periods. O’Brien County saw a similar pattern during construction of the Highland Wind Project, outperforming neighboring Lyon County. Construction crews, lease payments to landowners, ongoing maintenance jobs, all of it circulates back through local restaurants, hotels, and retailers.
As we look toward the future, I hope we can build on what’s already working. It’s what Bright Future Iowa is working toward. Our families, our county budgets, and our Main Streets have benefited from renewable energy. I believe they can benefit even more.
