Local taxes › Buchanan County › Winthrop

City

Winthrop

$2,480 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($29.43 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$750 a yearof that goes to the city ($8.94 per $1,000)

$268,247property taxes the city levies, FY27

$696,975city budget, FY27, without city-run utilities (not yet reported)²

Who runs it

The city council passes ordinances, adopts the budget and sets the city’s property tax.

Chance CookWinthrop City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Gerald W. DennieWinthrop Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
James B. LoughrenWinthrop City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Ann MyersWinthrop City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Brian KelchenWinthrop City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Lee R. WhiteWinthrop City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023

Officials are worked out from election results: every member whose four-year term is still running, plus appointments and titles Iowa Funnel has been told about. A resignation may not show yet.

Meetings and agendas

What the council is deciding: each agenda, the resolutions and ordinances on it, and a plain-language summary.

Iowa Funnel doesn’t read this city’s agendas yet. Every council and board posts its agenda at least 24 hours before it meets.

Property taxes

How the bill is collected · What each levy is for

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Winthrop

Homes and businesses in most of Winthrop pay a combined $32.87 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Buchanan County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $8.94. Estimate your bill.

East Buchanan schools$13.9442%
City of Winthrop$8.9427%
Buchanan County$6.8021%
Hawkeye Community College$1.364%
Buchanan People'S Memorial Hospital$1.083%
Buchanan County Assessor$0.542%
Buchanan County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.21<1%

Rates over time

Per $1,000 of taxable value: the typical combined rate people in Winthrop pay, and the city government’s own piece of it.

CombinedCity’s own

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$31.13	$8.37
FY21	$31.45	$8.37
FY22	$29.64	$8.37
FY23	$28.78	$8.37
FY24	$31.65	$8.75
FY25	$28.74	$9.09
FY26	$30.69	$9.24
FY27	$29.43	$8.94

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$31.13	$8.37
FY21	$31.45	$8.37
FY22	$29.64	$8.37
FY23	$28.78	$8.37
FY24	$31.65	$8.75
FY25	$28.74	$9.09
FY26	$30.69	$9.24
FY27	$29.43	$8.94

Compared with places this size³

Winthrop’s city property tax rate of $8.94 per $1,000 is the 23rd lowest of 180 Iowa cities with 550–1,200 people. The middle of the group is $12.86.

See all 180

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Elkader	$27.11	1,192
2	Exira	$24.81	766
3	Dayton	$22.51	766
4	Correctionville	$19.84	759
5	Villisca	$19.74	1,106
6	Allison	$19.06	937
7	Dumont	$19.04	614
8	Seymour	$18.78	646
9	Dexter	$18.69	631
10	Fonda	$18.52	636
11	Kanawha	$18.11	638
12	Swea City	$18.04	545
13	Greene	$17.91	971
14	Alden	$17.90	738
15	New Hartford	$17.69	555
16	Lansing	$17.67	959
17	Strawberry Point	$17.58	1,141
18	Rockwell	$17.54	1,044
19	Walnut	$17.46	728
20	Murray	$17.44	609
21	Gowrie	$17.17	943
22	Colo	$17.14	856
23	Mapleton	$16.90	1,114
24	George	$16.89	1,106
25	Fayette	$16.85	1,193
26	Adair	$16.84	792
27	Eddyville	$16.82	965
28	Elk Horn	$16.78	631
29	Oxford	$16.70	715
30	Buffalo Center	$16.58	839
31	Bancroft	$16.52	677
32	Eldon	$16.42	788
33	Early	$16.35	571
34	Aplington	$16.34	1,088
35	Panora	$16.14	1,096
36	Mechanicsville	$16.12	974
37	Armstrong	$15.87	847
38	Ruthven	$15.84	710
39	Minden	$15.77	581
40	Walker	$15.74	671
41	Newell	$15.49	850
42	Riceville	$15.31	807
43	Neola	$15.30	917
44	Sidney	$15.19	1,048
45	Gilbertville	$15.15	792
46	Stanwood	$15.12	612
47	Stratford	$15.03	688
48	Griswold	$15.01	975
49	Readlyn	$14.99	857
50	Tripoli	$14.99	1,208
51	Hopkinton	$14.79	622
52	Essex	$14.76	721
53	Dunlap	$14.56	1,030
54	Garnavillo	$14.52	751
55	Maxwell	$14.50	862
56	Clermont	$14.30	571
57	Moulton	$14.25	596
58	Mcgregor	$14.20	725
59	Olin	$14.19	652
60	Primghar	$14.18	893
61	Sheffield	$14.16	1,123
62	Elgin	$14.05	676
63	Ossian	$13.88	777
64	Redfield	$13.73	719
65	Victor	$13.72	852
66	Edgewood	$13.64	908
67	Sioux Rapids	$13.63	722
68	Donnellson	$13.63	859
69	Gladbrook	$13.58	775
70	Rockford	$13.52	722
71	Janesville	$13.43	1,052
72	Glidden	$13.43	1,140
73	Calmar	$13.39	1,100
74	Boyden	$13.39	694
75	Baxter	$13.32	983
76	Anita	$13.28	953
77	Van Horne	$13.27	768
78	Conrad	$13.23	1,098
79	Springville	$13.22	1,161
80	Keota	$13.21	888
81	Shellsburg	$13.20	987
82	De Soto	$13.18	937
83	Quasqueton	$13.12	587
84	Farmington	$13.10	583
85	Treynor	$13.03	1,104
86	Odebolt	$13.00	967
87	Coggon	$12.99	691
88	Earlville	$12.90	713
89	Brighton	$12.88	592
90	Danville	$12.87	910
91	Underwood	$12.85	973
92	Malvern	$12.79	1,056
93	Montrose	$12.78	734
94	Goldfield	$12.73	617
95	Wellsburg	$12.68	709
96	Buffalo	$12.68	1,163
97	Stanton	$12.62	664
98	Hospers	$12.58	703
99	Everly	$12.51	570
100	Hazleton	$12.48	711
101	West Point	$12.39	903
102	Hinton	$12.38	959
103	Preston	$12.38	940
104	Alburnett	$12.30	672
105	Hubbard	$12.30	837
106	Moravia	$12.27	625
107	Hedrick	$12.22	717
108	Carson	$12.22	772
109	Wheatland	$12.18	765
110	Schaller	$12.14	702
111	Winfield	$12.04	1,006
112	Elkhart	$12.00	1,079
113	Afton	$11.96	864
114	Lowden	$11.93	767
115	Tabor	$11.88	983
116	Albert City	$11.88	627
117	Aurelia	$11.84	970
118	Merrill	$11.64	713
119	Morning Sun	$11.50	702
120	Battle Creek	$11.49	683
121	Wall Lake	$11.43	739
122	West Bend	$11.42	770
123	Dakota City	$11.39	764
124	Marcus	$11.31	1,069
125	Dunkerton	$11.30	840
126	Sutherland	$11.25	628
127	Arcadia	$11.23	588
128	Whiting	$11.21	725
129	Melcher-Dallas	$11.21	1,193
130	Shelby	$11.17	730
131	University Heights	$11.12	1,188
132	Blairstown	$11.04	705
133	Manilla	$11.01	756
134	Hamburg	$10.95	863
135	Clarence	$10.94	991
136	Ireton	$10.93	571
137	Fontanelle	$10.88	684
138	Grand Mound	$10.78	608
139	Cambridge	$10.53	844
140	Swisher	$10.39	909
141	Schleswig	$10.39	820
142	Melbourne	$10.38	771
143	Elk Run Heights	$10.33	1,061
144	Fredericksburg	$10.27	983
145	Lake Park	$10.25	1,155
146	Ventura	$10.22	701
147	Inwood	$10.22	962
148	Milo	$10.20	762
149	Hartford	$10.16	729
150	What Cheer	$10.01	595
151	Newhall	$9.99	887
152	Graettinger	$9.81	810
153	Doon	$9.78	640
154	Long Grove	$9.59	849
155	Lake View	$9.39	1,120
156	Paullina	$9.21	979
157	Fairbank	$9.00	1,133
158	Winthrop	$8.94	814
159	Crescent	$8.72	626
160	Keosauqua	$8.58	944
161	Grand Junction	$8.57	715
162	Princeton	$8.24	917
163	Lakeside	$8.10	695
164	Kellogg	$8.10	597
165	Riverside	$8.02	1,063
166	Agency	$7.94	623
167	Hills	$7.94	911
168	Fremont	$7.86	688
169	Larchwood	$7.52	954
170	North English	$7.49	1,030
171	Sloan	$7.49	1,078
172	Sully	$7.41	891
173	Fruitland	$7.21	928
174	Lawton	$7.10	949
175	Wayland	$7.07	935
176	Raymond	$6.85	754
177	Keystone	$6.80	616
178	Shueyville	$6.79	725
179	Arnolds Park	$4.95	1,214
180	Okoboji	$3.83	729

The city’s levies, FY27

What the city raises from each levy. The general levy is capped by state law; the others are set aside for one purpose.

Consolidate General Fund$237,70789%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$29,13311%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Winthrop’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending from all funds, including city-run utilities like water and sewer (“business type”), which some cities run and others don’t. Transfers between funds are left out. “Cities this size” is the average for the 179 Iowa cities closest in size (550–1,200 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (179)
Business Type / Enterprise	38¢	40¢
Public Works	25¢	16¢
Culture and Recreation	14¢	9¢
Public Safety	13¢	10¢
General Government	9¢	9¢
Everything else	1¢	2¢

Planned spending, FY27

All funds: property taxes, utility and other fees, state and federal money. “Business type” is city-run utilities and enterprises like water or sewer.

Public Works$256,10037%
Public Safety$163,37023%
Culture and Recreation$142,25020%
General Government$97,75414%
Community and Economic Development$37,0015%
Health and Social Services$5000%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($441,200 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$312,500	$166,872
Public Safety	$89,106	$82,233
Health and Social Services	$500	$500
General Government	$112,448	$112,721
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$111,948	$105,854
Community and Economic Development	$121,201	$7,568
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$605,600	$585,630

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁴

$3.4M

$1.4M

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’25

State money

What the State of Iowa pays the city each year, and whether it has kept up with prices. Does state money keep pace? ⁵

What the state pays the city

$177,859 in FY25: down 19% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 36% less. Road Use Tax, the money for streets the state sends every year by formula, is up 6% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 15% less; grants come and go.

In today's dollarsActual dollars

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
State grants	–	–	–	$45,000
Road Use Tax (streets)	$114,440	$113,254	$116,251	$116,882
Iowa Department of Natural Resources	$1,088	–	–	–
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$5,046	$4,563	$14,080	$14,436
Other state money	$1,531	–	–	–
Other	–	$11,930	–	–
Library Direct Aid and Open Access	–	$1,675	$1,628	$1,541

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
State grants	–	–	–	$45,000
Road Use Tax (streets)	$114,440	$113,254	$116,251	$116,882
Iowa Department of Natural Resources	$1,088	–	–	–
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$5,046	$4,563	$14,080	$14,436
Other state money	$1,531	–	–	–
Other	–	$11,930	–	–
Library Direct Aid and Open Access	–	$1,675	$1,628	$1,541

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−15%$109,808 → $116,882, up 6% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 15% less
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)+98%$5,816 → $14,436, up 148% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 98% more

Collected by the state for the city

The local option sales tax is a city tax voters approved; the state collects it with the state sales tax and sends it back. It isn’t state aid. It’s up 42% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 13% more.

$109,515

$106,092

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25

Federal grants, for comparison: $63,472 in FY23.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Winthrop City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

James B. Loughren Winner11294.1%
Chance Cook Winner75.9%

Winthrop Mayor

Gerald W. Dennie Unopposed114100.0%

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Winthrop; official results are on each county auditor’s site.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁶

Dan Zumbach (Sen. 34)Craig P. Johnson (Rep. 67)

U.S. House:District 2

Buchanan County East Buchanan schools

Notes

For a $200,000 home with the homestead credit, at the combined rate in most of the city. Some parts of the city pay a different rate (special districts, tax increment financing districts). ↩
Cities adopt their budgets each spring for the year starting July 1. ↩
FY27 rates from the Department of Management. A higher rate isn’t always a bigger bill: it depends on how much property there is to tax. Sizes: Census Bureau 2024 estimates. ↩
The state’s FY24 spending file repeats the year before for nearly every Iowa city, so that year isn’t shown. ↩
From the city’s annual financial reports to the state (Iowa Data Hub, city actual revenues). “Today’s dollars” adjusts each year by the consumer price index for the Midwest, so a flat line in today’s dollars means the money buys the same as before. ↩
Legislative and congressional districts that cover Winthrop; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Winthrop works within. ↩

Sources: City budgets and levies from the Department of Management; tax rates from the Iowa Data Hub; state payments from the Department of Revenue; prices from the consumer price index; legislative districts from Census Bureau maps.