(Des Moines)--A property tax bill that would limit local property tax revenue growth to two percent a year has cleared the Iowa House. The bill was approved Thursday by a vote of  64-23. Area State Representative John Wills, a Republican from Spirit Lake, was among those supporting the bill.

The plan would exempt the first 15-thousand dollars of a home's value from taxation and eliminate the homestead tax credit. State funding for that credit would be sent to public schools and reduce the property taxes Iowans pay to local school districts by about 150-million dollars next year. Wills says the bill will make it easier for residents to see where there property taxes are spent.

Opponents of the bill say local governments will be able to go around the limit by raising fees and going deeper into debt that must be repaid with property taxes. Wills says he hopes that won’t be an issue.

He says the bill will now head back to the Senate.