Counties Mailing Countywide Truth in Taxation Statements

Taxpayers will be receiving a statement in the mail from their County Auditor’s Office.

A recent law change requires County Auditors to mail a statement to all County taxpayers by March 15th of each year with state-specified information related to proposed local government budgets and proposed property tax rates. 

The information being presented is for taxes payable in September 2026 and March 2027. You should receive this mailing if you expect to receive a property tax bill in September. 

But this statement is not a property tax bill. It includes data for proposed City, K-12 School District and County budgets, but does not include proposed budgets for smaller taxing authorities, such as community colleges, Assessor’s Office, townships and agricultural extension services.

Delaware County Auditor Carla Becker says the purpose of the statement is to provide taxpayers with information about the proposed City, K-12 School District and County budgets in time for the taxpayers to address the proposals at public hearings held before the budgets are approved. The date, time and location of the hearings are included in the mailing. The proposed tax askings may be lowered after the hearings, but not raised.

The statement includes the expected impact of the proposed City, School and County property tax rates on both a residential property valued at $100,000 and a commercial property valued at $300,000 (for demonstrative purposes, a 10% increase in taxable value has been factored into the examples). Taxpayers owning more than one property may receive multiple letters if those properties are in different tax districts. Contact information for each taxing entity is provided in the notice too.

For more information regarding this statement, you can go online to the Department of Management’s website at dom.iowa.gov/property-taxes (anytime on or after March 15th) or you can contact your local county auditor’s office (in Delaware County, their office number is 927-4701).

photo courtesy of Janelle Tucker/KMCH