Urbandale opens required public hearing on maximum property tax levy; proposes $10.03 rate

At a special meeting, the Urbandale City Council opened a public hearing required by Iowa law to set the maximum property tax dollars the city may collect in the coming fiscal year. City Manager David Jones said the council’s recommended property tax levy is $10.03 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, a reduction of 5.5 cents per $1,000 from the previous rate.

The hearing matters because state law requires cities to publish a hypothetical notice using standardized assumptions that can show large percentage increases that do not reflect most taxpayers’ actual bills, David Jones said. Jones told attendees, “your property taxes will not increase by 12%,” and explained the city must use the state’s required hypothetical scenarios in the mailed notice.

Jones provided numeric context: at the $10.03 levy the total regular property tax dollars the city would collect is $40,348,007.22, an increase of about 3.3% in total dollars year over year. He said most residential taxpayers who did not change their property will see an actual increase of roughly 1%–2%, below current inflation, and that the larger percentages in the mailed hypothetical are driven by a required assumption of a 10% increase in taxable valuations.

The city manager also explained how the residential rollback affects tax calculation: the percentage of a home’s assessed value subject to tax is increasing from 46.34% to 47.43% under state-determined rollbacks, which can raise the taxable portion even when the levy rate falls. Jones said commercial property owners face similar mechanics and that commercial bills may rise roughly 2%–3%, noting the first $150,000 of commercial valuation is taxed similarly to residential property and amounts above that are taxed at 90%.

Jones urged residents to use the city’s online tools or staff assistance to see parcel-level estimates and said staff will publish full fee and rate impacts at the full budget public hearing scheduled for April 15. He said comparisons using last year’s data show Urbandale’s levy among the lower rates for Iowa cities over 15,000 population: he cited Urbandale at 10.03, Grimes at 10.845, West Des Moines at 10.85, Johnston at about 11.34, Waukee at 12.905 and Des Moines at 16.61.

During public comment, one resident, Leo, asked whether his taxes had gone up. The mayor replied, “they will go up slightly, under 2%, 1.8%.” Leo said he was satisfied with that answer and with the services he receives.

The council voted to approve the meeting agenda and to open and later close the public hearing; each vote was taken by roll call and passed unanimously. No final budget adoption occurred; the council will consider the full budget and any final levy decisions at the full public hearing on April 15.

For residents who want parcel-specific estimates, Jones said staff will help by phone or email and that staff have printed materials available at the meeting.