Auditor: County to mail 41,500 informational property-tax notices under HF 718; not a tax bill

Tim Jamieson, real estate tax manager in the auditor’s office, told the Board of Supervisors on March 11 that the office will begin mailing approximately 41,500 informational property-tax notices under House File 718 beginning the day after the meeting.

Jamieson emphasized the notices are not tax bills and do not require payment; they are informational only. Each notice lists the taxing district and provides dates, times and locations for upcoming public budget hearings for major taxing bodies such as school districts, the county and cities. The notices also include a link to the Iowa Department of Management calculator so residents can estimate tax impact by entering an assessed value.

The mailings are district-specific: property owners in multiple tax districts will receive a separate notice for each tax district; owners of multiple properties in the same district should receive a single notice. Exempt properties — for example, local governments and some churches — are excluded from the mailing. Jamieson said the notice compares hypothetical examples (for instance, a $100,000 home and a $300,000 commercial property) under current and proposed rates; the mailing’s examples assume a 10% increase in assessed value that may not apply to most properties, so Jamieson warned the example comparisons may overstate the likely change for many taxpayers.

Jamieson said the project is an unfunded state mandate. The office contracted professional mail services to produce and deliver the notices by U.S. Postal Service; the estimated mailing cost discussed in the meeting was “about $30,000” (Jamieson said last year’s cost was roughly $26,000). He said the office approved the final statements and shipments would start the next day.

Jamieson told the board the notices do not include smaller taxing authorities (community college, ag extension, assessor, townships) on the front page breakdown but the back of the statement lists how collections for a sample TIF area are distributed among major recipients. He recommended residents use the Department of Management calculator for a more accurate estimate tied to their assessed value and noted that final tax rates will not be set until after local budget hearings and votes.

Nut graf: The HF 718 mailing is informational, required by law, and is intended to increase public awareness of proposed levy and budget hearings; it is not a demand for payment. The auditor’s office is implementing the statewide requirement while attempting to minimize duplicate mailings where property owners have multiple records.

Ending: The auditor’s office said recipients who have questions should consult the contact information on the statement for the listed taxing district or use the state calculator; the board moved forward with advertising the county’s own budget hearing schedule during the same meeting.