Across Iowa, property taxes represent one of the most substantial tax burdens most individuals and businesses pay.
Over half of the property taxes paid statewide in Iowa will be for cities (29.06 percent) and counties (21.95 percent).
Using information from the Iowa Department of Management and the U.S. Census Bureau, TEF created scorecards by looking at the change in three measurements from Fiscal Year 2016 to Fiscal Year 2017.
Change in property tax rates
Change in property tax revenue relative to inflation and population growth
Change in the total revenue per resident
Scoring was as follows for each category:
One point (1) was given for a decrease
Zero points (0) were given for no change
Negative one point (-1) was given for an increase
Individual points were then totaled for a final ranking.
These scorecards are meant to provide objective data that is consistent among taxing authorities. TEF did not investigate the reason for a location’s rate or revenue change; circumstances vary from location to location.
