Local taxes › Humboldt County › Humboldt

City

Humboldt

$3,110 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($36.96 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$1,350 a yearof that goes to the city ($16.00 per $1,000)

$3.5Mproperty taxes the city levies, FY27

$7.9Mcity 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.

Kirk WhittleseyHumboldt City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Walter JensenHumboldt Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Joel A. GoodellHumboldt City Council Ward 3 · elected November 7, 2023
John SleiterHumboldt City Council Ward 2 · elected November 7, 2023
Matt DominickHumboldt City Council Ward 1 · elected November 7, 2023
Jerod HatcherHumboldt Park Board Commissioner · elected November 4, 2025
Ross SleiterHumboldt Park Board Commissioner · elected November 4, 2025
Thomas TecklenburgHumboldt Park Board Commissioner · elected November 7, 2023
Tom NostromHumboldt Park Board Commissioner · elected November 7, 2023
Tyler NielsenHumboldt Park Board Commissioner · 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 Humboldt

Homes and businesses in most of Humboldt pay a combined $36.96 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Humboldt County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $16.00. Estimate your bill.

City of Humboldt$16.0043%
Humboldt schools$11.7732%
Humboldt County$5.7416%
Iowa Central Community College$1.574%
Humboldt County Memorial Hospital$0.872%
Humboldt County Assessor$0.722%
Humboldt County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.30<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$36.46	$15.65
FY21	$36.88	$16.17
FY22	$36.92	$15.78
FY23	$37.20	$15.81
FY24	$37.61	$16.02
FY25	$38.29	$16.15
FY26	$37.56	$15.90
FY27	$36.96	$16.00

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$36.46	$15.65
FY21	$36.88	$16.17
FY22	$36.92	$15.78
FY23	$37.20	$15.81
FY24	$37.61	$16.02
FY25	$38.29	$16.15
FY26	$37.56	$15.90
FY27	$36.96	$16.00

Compared with places this size³

Humboldt’s city property tax rate of $16.00 per $1,000 is the 16th highest of 60 Iowa cities with 3,200–7,100 people. The middle of the group is $14.67.

See all 60

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Red Oak	$20.65	5,420
2	Oelwein	$20.16	5,788
3	Albia	$19.70	3,579
4	Eagle Grove	$19.32	3,615
5	Independence	$19.01	6,266
6	Iowa Falls	$18.86	4,993
7	West Liberty	$18.68	3,724
8	Chariton	$18.37	4,278
9	Atlantic	$17.48	6,717
10	Clarinda	$17.25	5,334
11	Centerville	$16.85	5,345
12	Algona	$16.75	5,341
13	Vinton	$16.25	4,962
14	Winterset	$16.15	5,421
15	Cresco	$16.13	3,890
16	Humboldt	$16.00	4,774
17	Anamosa	$15.95	5,845
18	Charles City	$15.95	7,081
19	Forest City	$15.77	4,199
20	Sheldon	$15.33	5,584
21	Estherville	$15.27	5,796
22	Harlan	$15.07	4,898
23	Shenandoah	$15.02	4,878
24	Manchester	$14.96	5,283
25	Jefferson	$14.88	4,148
26	Hampton	$14.86	4,340
27	Carlisle	$14.82	4,381
28	Cherokee	$14.82	5,186
29	Glenwood	$14.77	5,250
30	Waukon	$14.76	3,799
31	Nevada	$14.58	7,082
32	Monticello	$14.49	4,095
33	Osceola	$14.37	5,585
34	Windsor Heights	$14.30	5,106
35	Osage	$14.29	3,559
36	Orange City	$14.01	6,547
37	Rock Valley	$13.76	4,024
38	Sergeant Bluff	$13.70	5,335
39	Emmetsburg	$13.70	3,632
40	Mount Vernon	$13.50	4,518
41	New Hampton	$13.44	3,433
42	Adel	$13.43	6,763
43	Maquoketa	$12.85	6,064
44	Camanche	$12.75	4,536
45	Le Claire	$12.64	4,776
46	Milford	$12.57	3,258
47	Tiffin	$11.80	6,695
48	Huxley	$11.68	4,737
49	Solon	$11.53	3,284
50	Williamsburg	$11.11	3,380
51	Polk City	$11.00	6,430
52	Carter Lake	$10.67	3,752
53	Story City	$10.39	3,439
54	Dyersville	$10.27	4,559
55	Spirit Lake	$10.17	5,548
56	West Burlington	$10.15	3,249
57	Robins	$9.68	3,362
58	Asbury	$8.32	6,051
59	Eldridge	$8.13	6,967
60	Evansdale	$8.00	4,515

The $8.10 limit

Humboldt’s general levy is $8.34 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.24 above the limit; it has to come down in steps.⁴ 77 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $8.34 · FY26 $8.34 · FY27 $8.34 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $7.66 more⁵

Debt Service Levy$3.21 · $770,624
Total Employee Benefit Levies$2.78 · $581,220
Unified Law Enforcement$1.06 · $221,652
Liability, property & self insurance costs$0.55 · $115,751
Opr & Maint publicly owned Transit$0.06 · $13,299

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$24.6M of taxable value in Humboldt is in TIF districts’ increment (12% of the city’s taxable value), 2020 valuations, taxed in FY22.⁶ It budgeted $744,857 in TIF revenue for FY25.

$1.1M

$891,368

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$862,624
FY17	$916,995
FY18	$1.0M
FY19	$1.1M
FY20	$662,824
FY21	$791,445
FY22	$795,722
FY23	$891,368

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$862,624
FY17	$916,995
FY18	$1.0M
FY19	$1.1M
FY20	$662,824
FY21	$791,445
FY22	$795,722
FY23	$891,368

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$1.7M51%
Debt Service Levy$770,62422%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$581,22017%
Unified Law Enforcement$221,6526%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$115,7513%
Opr & Maint publicly owned Transit$13,2990%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Humboldt’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 59 Iowa cities closest in size (3,200–7,100 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (59)
Business Type / Enterprise	25¢	37¢
Culture and Recreation	18¢	7¢
Capital Projects	15¢	18¢
Debt Service	14¢	8¢
Public Safety	12¢	13¢
Everything else	16¢	17¢

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.

Culture and Recreation$2.1M27%
Debt Service$1.6M20%
Public Safety$1.3M17%
Capital Projects$1.1M13%
Public Works$1.0M13%
General Government$436,3256%
Community and Economic Development$287,1684%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($2.9M in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$1.2M	$1.2M
Public Safety	$1.1M	$1.2M
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$439,115	$437,364
Debt Service	$1.5M	$1.5M
Culture and Recreation	$3.5M	$1.7M
Community and Economic Development	$342,810	$333,527
Capital Projects	$3.4M	$1.8M
Business Type / Enterprise	$3.1M	$2.4M

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁷

$21.2M

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: $717,114 in FY25, up 0% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 20% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$659,873	$659,433	$676,882	$680,556
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$48,722	$77,954	$58,465	$36,558

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.

$154,793

$24,115

Other$10,00041%
Iowa Economic Development Authority$10,00041%
State grants$4,11517%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$7,166
FY20	$16,187
FY21	$154,793
FY22	$22,859
FY23	$8,729
FY24	$4,679
FY25	$24,115

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$7,166
FY20	$16,187
FY21	$154,793
FY22	$22,859
FY23	$8,729
FY24	$4,679
FY25	$24,115

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−10%$605,881 → $680,556, up 12% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 10% less
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)−73%$109,395 → $36,558, down 67% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 73% 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 13% more.

$753,126

$708,935

Federal grants, for comparison: $3.0M in FY25.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 3

Humboldt City Council At-Large

Kirk Whittlesey Unopposed790100.0%

Humboldt Mayor

Walter Jensen Winner63262.5%
Daniel E. Scholl 38037.5%

Humboldt Park Board Commissioner

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Jerod Hatcher Winner88054.8%
Ross Sleiter Winner72645.2%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹

Dennis Guth (Sen. 28)Mark I. Thompson (Rep. 56)

U.S. House:District 4

Humboldt County Humboldt 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 2020. ↩
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 Humboldt; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Humboldt 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.

Humboldt

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Humboldt

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $7.66 more5

Tax increment financing (TIF)

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Humboldt’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: $7.66 more⁵

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹