Local taxes › Fayette County › West Union

City

West Union

$3,020 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($35.80 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$1,400 a yearof that goes to the city ($16.60 per $1,000)

$1.5Mproperty taxes the city levies, FY27

$4.6Mcity 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.

Christopher DeBackWest Union City Council Ward 1 · elected November 4, 2025
Hunter McElreeWest Union City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Kent A. HalversonWest Union Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Kennon GummWest Union City Council Ward 3 · elected November 7, 2023
Marty MillerWest Union City Council Ward 2 · elected November 7, 2023
Randy TopeWest Union 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 West Union

Homes and businesses in most of West Union pay a combined $35.80 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Fayette County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $16.60. Estimate your bill.

City of West Union$16.6046%
Everyone else$13.3737%
Fayette County$5.8316%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$33.95	$15.20
FY21	$34.42	$15.20
FY22	$34.81	$15.25
FY23	$35.35	$15.89
FY24	$35.64	$16.07
FY25	$36.65	$16.27
FY26	$36.13	$16.26
FY27	$35.80	$16.60

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$33.95	$15.20
FY21	$34.42	$15.20
FY22	$34.81	$15.25
FY23	$35.35	$15.89
FY24	$35.64	$16.07
FY25	$36.65	$16.27
FY26	$36.13	$16.26
FY27	$35.80	$16.60

Compared with places this size³

West Union’s city property tax rate of $16.60 per $1,000 is the 19th highest of 89 Iowa cities with 1,600–3,600 people. The middle of the group is $13.62.

See all 89

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Eldora	$26.87	2,595
2	Pocahontas	$20.79	1,848
3	Rockwell City	$20.74	2,185
4	Bloomfield	$20.41	2,773
5	Belmond	$19.86	2,405
6	Sibley	$19.77	2,787
7	Albia	$19.70	3,579
8	Sac City	$19.69	1,992
9	Lake City	$19.32	1,656
10	Eagle Grove	$19.32	3,615
11	Toledo	$18.21	2,372
12	La Porte City	$18.08	2,267
13	Tama	$17.74	2,997
14	Clarion	$17.74	2,751
15	Britt	$17.72	2,001
16	Missouri Valley	$17.68	2,638
17	Madrid	$16.93	2,824
18	Manson	$16.87	1,646
19	West Union	$16.60	2,435
20	Audubon	$16.52	2,008
21	Grundy Center	$16.36	2,821
22	Belle Plaine	$16.34	2,335
23	Colfax	$16.25	2,305
24	Durant	$16.24	1,798
25	Lamoni	$16.15	2,072
26	Marengo	$16.10	2,415
27	Pleasantville	$15.80	1,696
28	Postville	$15.68	2,418
29	Tipton	$15.54	3,059
30	Stuart	$15.48	1,887
31	Granger	$15.22	2,095
32	Sigourney	$15.20	1,974
33	Guttenberg	$15.19	1,804
34	Sumner	$14.83	2,032
35	Woodbine	$14.80	1,707
36	Van Meter	$14.60	1,840
37	Rock Rapids	$14.57	2,709
38	Jesup	$14.31	2,541
39	Osage	$14.29	3,559
40	Urbana	$14.20	1,635
41	Parkersburg	$14.15	1,986
42	Ida Grove	$14.10	1,988
43	Lake Mills	$13.82	2,077
44	Emmetsburg	$13.70	3,632
45	Wilton	$13.62	2,914
46	Avoca	$13.51	1,685
47	New Hampton	$13.44	3,433
48	Wapello	$13.29	2,026
49	Hudson	$13.19	2,916
50	Center Point	$13.19	2,578
51	Greenfield	$13.13	1,988
52	Hawarden	$13.02	2,630
53	Leon	$12.93	1,779
54	Garner	$12.86	3,049
55	Slater	$12.79	1,626
56	Bellevue	$12.67	2,321
57	Milford	$12.57	3,258
58	New London	$12.56	1,853
59	Lisbon	$12.50	2,238
60	Dallas Center	$12.42	1,993
61	Onawa	$12.32	2,795
62	Remsen	$12.32	1,681
63	Monroe	$12.28	2,021
64	Denver	$12.27	1,955
65	Alta	$12.13	2,039
66	Reinbeck	$12.10	1,673
67	Atkins	$11.99	2,168
68	Blue Grass	$11.79	1,707
69	Hull	$11.79	2,459
70	Columbus Junction	$11.71	1,794
71	Cascade	$11.64	2,396
72	West Branch	$11.63	2,876
73	Mitchellville	$11.54	2,686
74	Solon	$11.53	3,284
75	Prairie City	$11.38	1,722
76	Northwood	$11.28	2,047
77	Mediapolis	$11.27	1,679
78	Williamsburg	$11.11	3,380
79	Ely	$11.08	2,371
80	Ogden	$10.99	1,970
81	Farley	$10.91	1,723
82	Moville	$10.67	1,707
83	Story City	$10.39	3,439
84	Kalona	$10.37	2,762
85	West Burlington	$10.15	3,249
86	Peosta	$9.82	2,195
87	Robins	$9.68	3,362
88	Epworth	$9.42	2,042
89	Fairfax	$8.10	2,937

The $8.10 limit

West Union’s general levy is $7.71 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.39 below the limit.⁴ 733 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $7.94 · FY26 $7.86 · FY27 $7.71 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $8.89 more⁵

Debt Service Levy$3.82 · $355,099
Total Employee Benefit Levies$3.41 · $313,998
Liability, property & self insurance costs$1.40 · $129,067
Support of a Local Emerg. Mgmt. Comm.$0.26 · $23,748

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$974,991 of taxable value in West Union is in TIF districts’ increment (1% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁶ It budgeted $71,074 in TIF revenue for FY25.

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$709,36846%
Debt Service Levy$355,09923%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$313,99821%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$129,0678%
Support of a Local Emerg. Mgmt. Comm.$23,7482%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of West Union’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 88 Iowa cities closest in size (1,600–3,600 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (88)
Capital Projects	49¢	14¢
Business Type / Enterprise	16¢	40¢
Public Works	10¢	10¢
Public Safety	9¢	12¢
Culture and Recreation	7¢	7¢
Everything else	9¢	16¢

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.

Capital Projects$2.0M43%
Public Safety$713,02215%
Public Works$648,50114%
Culture and Recreation$528,30911%
Debt Service$387,9408%
General Government$297,7026%
Community and Economic Development$54,5291%
Health and Social Services$2,5900%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($1.2M in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$617,940	$652,260
Public Safety	$554,776	$704,323
Health and Social Services	$3,000	$2,000
General Government	$272,292	$294,284
Debt Service	$367,018	$367,018
Culture and Recreation	$705,978	$541,885
Community and Economic Development	$106,169	$79,150
Capital Projects	$362,000	$857,131
Business Type / Enterprise	$1.3M	$1.9M

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁷

$11.1M

$7.3M

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? ⁸

What the state pays the city every year

Road Use Tax for streets, the commercial and industrial tax “backfill”, and ambulance reimbursement, paid every year by formula: $374,078 in FY25, down 7% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 26% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$344,102	$342,652	$351,719	$353,628
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$25,666	$29,568	$65,112	$20,450

Grants and project money

State grants and money for specific projects (roads, development, natural resources) vary with what the city applies for and wins, so they aren’t counted as the state’s regular support.

$518,024

$2,916

State grants$2,916100%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$65,852
FY20	$134,006
FY21	$518,024
FY22	$27,885
FY23	$3,333
FY24	$2,913
FY25	$2,916

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$65,852
FY20	$134,006
FY21	$518,024
FY22	$27,885
FY23	$3,333
FY24	$2,913
FY25	$2,916

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−12%$321,156 → $353,628, up 10% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 12% less
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)−80%$82,564 → $20,450, down 75% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 80% less

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 41% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 12% more.

$298,645

Federal grants, for comparison: $75,604 in FY25.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 3

West Union City Council At-Large

Hunter McElree Winner28474.7%
Heather Becthold 9625.3%

West Union City Council Ward 1

Christopher DeBack Unopposed119100.0%

West Union Mayor

Kent A. Halverson Winner21255.6%
Cam Granger 16944.4%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹

Dan Zumbach (Sen. 34)Chad Ingels (Rep. 68)

U.S. House:District 2

Fayette CountyNorth Fayette 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. ↩
Iowa Code section 384.1, as changed by House File 718 (2023). Until FY25 a city’s regular general levy was capped at $8.10 by itself, and a city at the cap could add an emergency levy of up to $0.27. From FY25 the general levy and several smaller levies were combined into one “consolidated” general levy with an $8.10 limit; a city whose combined rate was above $8.10 lowers it in steps, in years its taxable value grows by more than the law allows, until it reaches $8.10. So years before FY25 aren’t directly comparable with later ones. ↩
Levies outside the limit are each set aside for one purpose and have their own rules: debt service pays back bonds voters or the council approved, employee benefits cover pensions and insurance, and some (transit, an airport, insurance costs) have their own caps in state law. ↩
Tax increment financing: when a city sets up a TIF district, the taxable value there is frozen at a “base”. Taxes on the base go to every government as usual; taxes on the growth in value since (the “increment”) go to the city’s TIF fund to pay for the project, such as roads, utilities or a developer rebate, until the district ends. From the state’s valuation file (Iowa Data Hub), valuation year 2025. ↩
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 West Union; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget West Union 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.

West Union

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in West Union

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $8.89 more5

Tax increment financing (TIF)

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of West Union’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

State money

What the state pays the city every year

Grants and project money

Has it kept up with prices?

Collected by the state for the city

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress9

Compared with places this size³

Outside the limit: $8.89 more⁵

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹