March 28, 2024

Jasper County lowers tax levies

Supervisors and auditor say citizens will pay less to county

Levy rates have been lowered for Jasper County property taxpayers.

The estimated urban or general tax levy rate of $8.25 per $1,000 of taxable property value will drop to about $7.84 in fiscal year 2021; the rural rate will decrease from $11.63 per $1,000 of taxable property value to $10.44.

Combined with the increase in property valuations from this past year, citizens will be paying less to the county.

On Tuesday morning, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved the proposed property tax levy rates for urban and rural taxpayers without opposition. Brandon Talsma, chair of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, said the governing board and auditor’s office worked on the budget “for quite a while.”

Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop commended the board of supervisors and auditor’s office for lowering tax levies to offset some of the increased property valuations which occurred across the state last year. Iowans were notified by mail and concerned they would have to pay more in taxes.

When citizens arrived to the supervisors chambers with complaints, the board and Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott assured them the county’s levy should decrease. It did. The board also suggested citizens speak to their respective city councils and school boards about their levy rates, too.

Talsma said, “We tried to keep everything pretty much the same. Unlike a lot of other tax authorities in the county we aren’t pocketing that 15 percent evaluation increase that happened last year.”

When citizens visit the treasurer’s office, they are still going to see an increase. The cities and school districts “are going to swallow up that valuation and keep their levies the same, which means their taxes will go up,” Parrott said. Overall, citizens taxes will be higher.

“But not from the county’s side of things,” Parrott said. “… I think it’s responsible government on behalf of the board and the rest of the elected officials and the department heads as well that we take this action.”

Supervisor Doug Cupples said every department took a hit when it came to budgeting this year and he appreciated their participation. Despite that, Talsma said departments should be relatively the same.

The board of supervisors — which was without Denny Carpenter — also voted 2-0 to approve the maximum property tax dollars for fiscal year 2021.

The maximum amount of property taxes from general county services has been set at $12,274,393. The maximum amount of property taxes from rural county services was set at $2,747,096.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com