Property Tax
Watch for a Letter from Story County - Coming Soon!
If you own property in Iowa, you will receive an official letter from your county regarding the upcoming budget hearings for the School District, County, and City that your property is located in. This mailing is required by legislation passed in 2023 and amended in 2024. As a result, this marks the second year that counties must distribute these notifications, which must be mailed to property owners by March 15.
Key Information Included in the Property Tax Statement:
The bottom section of the statement provides an explanation regarding any increase in property tax collections.
Additionally, the statement includes a comparative analysis of the current and proposed property tax amounts for both $100,000 residential and $300,000 commercial properties.
Taxpayers should note that for the first time the calculations assume a 10% assessed valuation increase across all property classifications.
Understanding Property Valuation Changes
According to the Ames City Assessor, fewer than 10 of more than 18,000 existing properties in Ames experienced an assessed valuation increase due to revaluation. This figure does not include new construction, existing properties that made improvements, annexations, or reclassified properties. Therefore, in nearly all cases, the actual assessed valuation will remain unchanged from the previous year.
This means that while the county's statement will reflect a 14.96% increase in taxes for residential property and a 16.38% increase for commercial property, the actual percentage increase will be 4.48% and 2.28%, respectively, in nearly all cases.
Additional Resources for Residential Property Owners
While the letter from the Story County Auditor serves as an informative resource, residential property owners may obtain a more precise estimate of their current and proposed tax obligations using the City of Ames Residential Property Tax Calculator(PDF, 135KB). This tool not only offers a more accurate tax estimate but also provides a receipt-style breakdown of how tax revenues are allocated. Please note that the calculator does not take into account individual property tax exemptions or credits.
Other Taxing Entities
As Ames taxpayers consider their property tax statements, it’s important to remember that the city makes up only one component of the total property tax obligation. In fact, historically, the City has accounted for roughly one-third of the total property tax obligations. As you can see in the chart below, the school district, county, county hospital, community college and city assessor make up the remainder.
Community Comparisons
Tax information without comparisons can be challenging to decipher. One way to evaluate a City's effectiveness is to compare the City of Ames's tax rates to those of other cities across the state. The following table demonstrates the City’s current tax rate and levy rate per capita in comparison to other notable cities across the state:
When reviewing the table above, it’s important to remember that each City’s elected officials decide the type, method, and level of service to provide their residents. What’s valued by one City may not be valued by another, leaving the difficult decision of balancing these priorities to their local elected officials. Also, some cities receive additional revenue from sources other than property taxes that help fund their priorities.
Some of these sources include:
- franchise fees on gas/electric/cable utilities
- gaming/casino revenue distributions
- sales and services tax
- hotel/motel tax
- developer/local contributions that help subsidize the cost of providing City services
Useful Links
Understanding property taxes in Iowa can be challenging due to the complexity of the state's taxation system. The following links provide valuable resources to help you navigate and better understand the process.
Iowa Department of Revenue – Information about the taxation cycle, valuations, assessors, and roles.
Iowa Department of Management – Information regarding the School County and City Budget Year Tax Statements.
Ames City Assessor – Information regarding property assessments, conference board meetings, credits/exemptions, and appeals.