Allamakee County holds required public hearing on proposed tax levy
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met Wednesday, March 27 for the required Public Hearing for the County’s Proposed Property Tax Levy for Fiscal-Year 2025 (FY25).
The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Dennis Keatley and Mark Reiser present. Members of the public in attendance included Tom Clark, John Sweeney and Executive Director Val Reinke of Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED).
The Public Hearing was opened with County Auditor Denise Beyer providing an overview of the letter that taxpayers received prior to the date of this meeting and hearing relating to the County’s proposed FY25 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025) property tax levy. Beyer advised that this public hearing is a new requirement relating to Iowa House File 718 (HF718), legislation relating to local government property taxes, financial authority and budgets, among other matters.
Beyer noted that the Public Hearing Notice was published the week of Wednesday, March 13 in county newspapers with that notice providing the current fiscal year’s levy and tax dollar amounts and the proposed levy and tax dollar amounts for FY25. As part of her overview, Beyer noted the current Countywide Tax Rate of 6.614 and the proposed tax rate of 6.5885 with the Tax Rate - Rural Additional currently at 3.66482 (Rural Total 10.27882) and the FY25 Proposed Tax Rate of 3.59296 (Rural Total 10.18146).
Beyer noted that the tax levies are being forced down slightly with increased valuations still resulting in an increase in tax dollars, which is funding used in providing services to county residents. Byrnes noted that increases in valuations vary by property.
Beyer discussed the letter and information mailed to taxpayers noting that a common question she has received from taxpayers relates to whether their individual property taxes will increase and by how much. Beyer advised that there are some variables including the specific Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District the property is located within, which is information used in property tax calculations.
For illustrative purposes, Beyer provided an example making a comparison between Fiscal-Year 2023-2024 and Fiscal-Year 2024-2025 for a residential property. This comparison was calculated using the Citizen Property Tax Estimator found on the Iowa Department of Management website, and calculates as follows:
Value from Property Assessment Letter or Assessor Website
• January 1 Assessed Property Value:
- January 1, 2022 ($157,800)
- January 1, 2023 ($190,300)
• Calculated Taxable Property Value:
- January 1, 2022 ($86,238)
- January 1, 2023 ($88,190)
Property Tax Rates From Mailing
• All School Funds Tax Rate: Current (9.95832); Proposed (10.49108)
• * Countywide Tax Rate: Current (6.61400); Proposed (6.58850)
• City General Non-Ag Tax Rate: Current (15.49106); Proposed (15.33700)
Estimated Property Tax
• School: Current ($859) vs. Proposed ($925) = Dollar Amount Change ($66) and % Change (7.68%)
• County: Current ($570) vs. Proposed ($581) = Dollar Amount Change ($11) and % Change (1.93%)
• City: Current ($1,336) vs. Proposed ($1,353) = Dollar Amount Change ($17) and % Change (1.27%)
* For residential properties outside of a city, the county rate should be the total of the “Countywide” and “Rural Additional” tax rates from the mailed statement.
NOTE 1: This estimator is not meant for use with agricultural classed property.
NOTE 2: This is an estimate of taxes to be paid, not an exact figure. The actual amount billed may vary from this estimate due to addition of other local government taxes (community college, county assessor, county ag extension, etc.).
Byrnes advised that 48 percent of the revenue necessary for the County’s budget comes from property taxes. In addition, Byrnes noted that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenue has been leveraged to fund several infrastructure projects and other large expenses, a decision that will benefit the County by not requiring the levy of property tax dollars in the future to fund these necessary projects.
The Iowa Department of Management’s website, at https://dom.iowa.gov/property-taxes, includes an article “School, County and City Budget Year Statement to Taxpayers” at https://dom.iowa.gov/message/article/property-taxes-tax-replacement/school-county-and-city-budget-year-statement with a downloadable tool available to calculate the property tax impact for a specific property valuation.
