Local taxes › Iowa County › Williamsburg

City

Williamsburg

$2,870 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($34.08 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$940 a yearof that goes to the city ($11.11 per $1,000)

$1.7Mproperty taxes the city levies, FY27

$5.0Mcity 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.

Adam GrierWilliamsburg Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Jake ThornholmWilliamsburg City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Jeff SteinkampWilliamsburg City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Anne ZalenskiWilliamsburg City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Dale WalterWilliamsburg City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Tyler MarshallWilliamsburg 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 Williamsburg

Homes and businesses in most of Williamsburg pay a combined $34.08 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Iowa County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $11.11. Estimate your bill.

Williamsburg schools$13.5540%
City of Williamsburg$11.1133%
Iowa County$7.2921%
Kirkwood Community College$1.434%
Iowa County Assessor$0.511%
Iowa County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.20<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$34.33	$11.05
FY21	$33.69	$10.50
FY22	$33.67	$10.53
FY23	$33.55	$10.76
FY24	$33.68	$10.80
FY25	$33.91	$10.84
FY26	$33.49	$10.34
FY27	$34.08	$11.11

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$34.33	$11.05
FY21	$33.69	$10.50
FY22	$33.67	$10.53
FY23	$33.55	$10.76
FY24	$33.68	$10.80
FY25	$33.91	$10.84
FY26	$33.49	$10.34
FY27	$34.08	$11.11

Compared with places this size³

Williamsburg’s city property tax rate of $11.11 per $1,000 is the 10th lowest of 66 Iowa cities with 2,300–5,000 people. The middle of the group is $14.53.

See all 66

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Eldora	$26.87	2,595
2	Bloomfield	$20.41	2,773
3	Belmond	$19.86	2,405
4	Sibley	$19.77	2,787
5	Albia	$19.70	3,579
6	Eagle Grove	$19.32	3,615
7	Iowa Falls	$18.86	4,993
8	West Liberty	$18.68	3,724
9	Chariton	$18.37	4,278
10	Toledo	$18.21	2,372
11	La Porte City	$18.08	2,267
12	Tama	$17.74	2,997
13	Clarion	$17.74	2,751
14	Missouri Valley	$17.68	2,638
15	Madrid	$16.93	2,824
16	West Union	$16.60	2,435
17	Grundy Center	$16.36	2,821
18	Belle Plaine	$16.34	2,335
19	Vinton	$16.25	4,962
20	Colfax	$16.25	2,305
21	Cresco	$16.13	3,890
22	Marengo	$16.10	2,415
23	Humboldt	$16.00	4,774
24	Forest City	$15.77	4,199
25	Postville	$15.68	2,418
26	Tipton	$15.54	3,059
27	Harlan	$15.07	4,898
28	Shenandoah	$15.02	4,878
29	Jefferson	$14.88	4,148
30	Hampton	$14.86	4,340
31	Carlisle	$14.82	4,381
32	Waukon	$14.76	3,799
33	Rock Rapids	$14.57	2,709
34	Monticello	$14.49	4,095
35	Jesup	$14.31	2,541
36	Osage	$14.29	3,559
37	Rock Valley	$13.76	4,024
38	Emmetsburg	$13.70	3,632
39	Wilton	$13.62	2,914
40	Mount Vernon	$13.50	4,518
41	New Hampton	$13.44	3,433
42	Hudson	$13.19	2,916
43	Center Point	$13.19	2,578
44	Hawarden	$13.02	2,630
45	Garner	$12.86	3,049
46	Camanche	$12.75	4,536
47	Bellevue	$12.67	2,321
48	Le Claire	$12.64	4,776
49	Milford	$12.57	3,258
50	Onawa	$12.32	2,795
51	Hull	$11.79	2,459
52	Huxley	$11.68	4,737
53	Cascade	$11.64	2,396
54	West Branch	$11.63	2,876
55	Mitchellville	$11.54	2,686
56	Solon	$11.53	3,284
57	Williamsburg	$11.11	3,380
58	Ely	$11.08	2,371
59	Carter Lake	$10.67	3,752
60	Story City	$10.39	3,439
61	Kalona	$10.37	2,762
62	Dyersville	$10.27	4,559
63	West Burlington	$10.15	3,249
64	Robins	$9.68	3,362
65	Fairfax	$8.10	2,937
66	Evansdale	$8.00	4,515

The $8.10 limit

Williamsburg’s general levy is $7.63 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.47 below the limit.⁴ 767 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $7.86 · FY26 $7.79 · FY27 $7.63 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $3.48 more⁵

Debt Service Levy$1.91 · $349,298
Liability, property & self insurance costs$0.89 · $131,635
Capital Projects (Capital Improv. Reserve)$0.68 · $99,804

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$35.3M of taxable value in Williamsburg is in TIF districts’ increment (19% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁶ It budgeted $1.0M in TIF revenue for FY25.

$1.1M

$1.0M

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$989,206
FY17	$883,858
FY18	$697,024
FY19	$716,819
FY20	$998,902
FY21	$1.1M
FY22	$1.1M
FY23	$1.0M

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$989,206
FY17	$883,858
FY18	$697,024
FY19	$716,819
FY20	$998,902
FY21	$1.1M
FY22	$1.1M
FY23	$1.0M

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$1.1M66%
Debt Service Levy$349,29820%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$131,6358%
Capital Projects (Capital Improv. Reserve)$99,8046%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Williamsburg’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 65 Iowa cities closest in size (2,300–5,000 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (65)
Capital Projects	28¢	16¢
Business Type / Enterprise	21¢	39¢
Debt Service	17¢	8¢
Public Works	11¢	9¢
Public Safety	10¢	13¢
Everything else	12¢	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.

Debt Service$1.5M31%
Public Safety$1.0M21%
Public Works$960,20619%
Culture and Recreation$857,97517%
General Government$309,8816%
Capital Projects$203,3004%
Community and Economic Development$81,4502%
Health and Social Services$7,8000%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($1.9M in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$792,742	$824,444
Public Safety	$895,702	$867,029
Health and Social Services	$7,800	$7,800
General Government	$279,702	$286,818
Debt Service	$1.5M	$6.1M
Culture and Recreation	$685,552	$624,355
Community and Economic Development	$65,910	$62,451
Capital Projects	$3.8M	$697,111
Business Type / Enterprise	$1.7M	$1.7M

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁷

$13.7M

$8.3M

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: $475,197 in FY25, up 20% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 4% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$455,598	$460,447	$472,631	$475,197

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.

$767,048

$2,480

State grants$2,480100%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$6,359
FY20	$6,466
FY21	$767,048
FY22	$552,974
FY23	$72,890
FY24	$2,108
FY25	$2,480

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$6,359
FY20	$6,466
FY21	$767,048
FY22	$552,974
FY23	$72,890
FY24	$2,108
FY25	$2,480

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−4%$396,342 → $475,197, up 20% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 4% 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 16% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 8% less.

$542,745

$481,879

Federal grants, for comparison: $236,545 in FY23.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Williamsburg City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Jake Thornholm Winner12754.3%
Jeff Steinkamp Winner10745.7%

Williamsburg Mayor

Adam Grier Unopposed139100.0%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹

Dawn Driscoll (Sen. 46)Judd Lawler (Rep. 91)

U.S. House:District 1

Iowa County Williamsburg 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 Williamsburg; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Williamsburg 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.

Williamsburg

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Williamsburg

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $3.48 more5

Tax increment financing (TIF)

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Williamsburg’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: $3.48 more⁵

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹