City

Williamson

$2,710 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($32.13 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$570 a yearof that goes to the city ($6.72 per $1,000)

$20,560property taxes the city levies, FY27

$61,380city budget, all funds, FY27²

Who runs it

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

Jack MillerWilliamson Mayor · elected November 7, 2023
Mike McCartyWilliamson City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Tammy ShriverWilliamson City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Teresa L BuckalewWilliamson 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 Williamson

Homes and businesses in most of Williamson pay a combined $32.13 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Lucas County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $6.72. Estimate your bill.

Chariton schools$14.1244%
City of Williamson$6.7221%
Lucas County$5.4017%
Lucas County Hospital$3.6111%
Indian Hills Community College$1.244%
Lucas County Assessor$0.732%
Lucas County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.30<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$39.13	$12.18
FY21	$37.95	$11.79
FY22	$34.15	$8.10
FY23	$34.15	$8.10
FY24	$34.72	$8.01
FY25	$34.23	$7.78
FY26	$34.21	$8.10
FY27	$32.13	$6.72

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$39.13	$12.18
FY21	$37.95	$11.79
FY22	$34.15	$8.10
FY23	$34.15	$8.10
FY24	$34.72	$8.01
FY25	$34.23	$7.78
FY26	$34.21	$8.10
FY27	$32.13	$6.72

Compared with places this size³

Williamson’s city property tax rate of $6.72 per $1,000 is the 15th lowest of 157 Iowa cities with 80–190 people. The middle of the group is $10.35.

See all 157

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Castana	$34.13	103
2	Brayton	$25.07	138
3	Hansell	$23.66	85
4	Harris	$23.13	145
5	Whitten	$22.65	98
6	Soldier	$21.92	176
7	Smithland	$21.12	184
8	Stanley	$20.69	86
9	Coin	$19.59	171
10	Rowan	$19.53	118
11	Chester	$19.30	134
12	Bouton	$19.25	125
13	Ricketts	$19.22	105
14	Garden Grove	$19.20	173
15	Hastings	$18.95	157
16	Swaledale	$18.62	136
17	Derby	$18.13	89
18	Hillsboro	$17.68	158
19	Bristow	$17.39	139
20	Woolstock	$17.26	141
21	Prescott	$16.53	186
22	Monmouth	$16.41	129
23	Blockton	$16.37	123
24	Geneva	$16.25	137
25	Waterville	$16.25	112
26	Little Sioux	$15.74	170
27	Moorhead	$15.68	186
28	Woodburn	$15.59	133
29	Kamrar	$15.47	178
30	Goodell	$15.16	139
31	Marne	$15.03	109
32	Baldwin	$14.91	99
33	Davis City	$14.45	178
34	Lucas	$14.40	176
35	Palmer	$13.89	137
36	Ayrshire	$13.55	128
37	Searsboro	$13.55	129
38	Ferguson	$13.53	98
39	Lanesboro	$13.53	112
40	Calumet	$13.16	144
41	Portsmouth	$13.05	187
42	Delaware	$12.86	139
43	Patterson	$12.84	176
44	Clemons	$12.69	135
45	Cylinder	$12.52	84
46	Millersburg	$12.40	135
47	Aurora	$12.40	165
48	Bridgewater	$12.29	145
49	Arion	$12.14	99
50	Webb	$12.10	139
51	Decatur	$12.08	174
52	Shambaugh	$11.98	161
53	Lone Rock	$11.92	143
54	East Peru	$11.89	119
55	Henderson	$11.85	140
56	Reasnor	$11.76	157
57	Morley	$11.74	94
58	Ledyard	$11.74	118
59	Toronto	$11.68	101
60	Exline	$11.60	157
61	Beaman	$11.54	155
62	College Springs	$11.44	172
63	Melrose	$11.27	110
64	Linn Grove	$11.15	155
65	Promise City	$11.13	91
66	Randolph	$11.08	183
67	Leighton	$11.07	153
68	Rake	$11.05	179
69	Masonville	$11.00	98
70	Somers	$10.99	121
71	Havelock	$10.95	127
72	Alexander	$10.90	165
73	Lambs Grove	$10.78	174
74	Wallingford	$10.75	154
75	Woden	$10.68	183
76	Pacific Junction	$10.56	99
77	Barnes City	$10.44	152
78	Stockton	$10.37	171
79	Randall	$10.35	156
80	Meriden	$10.28	175
81	Drakesville	$10.24	170
82	North Washington	$10.23	107
83	Dawson	$10.19	110
84	Barnum	$9.96	186
85	Hartwick	$9.90	91
86	Clare	$9.81	133
87	Tingley	$9.81	146
88	Rutland	$9.65	116
89	Van Wert	$9.62	175
90	Rock Falls	$9.61	143
91	Kirkville	$9.59	159
92	Superior	$9.58	127
93	Webster	$9.55	94
94	Martinsburg	$9.49	109
95	Larrabee	$9.41	116
96	Hamilton	$9.35	125
97	Wiota	$9.32	91
98	Floris	$9.29	119
99	Mitchell	$9.22	118
100	Westphalia	$9.18	133
101	Elberon	$9.16	178
102	Blairsburg	$8.93	175
103	Prairieburg	$8.91	156
104	Welton	$8.86	124
105	Archer	$8.84	116
106	Luther	$8.83	147
107	Fraser	$8.81	107
108	Macksburg	$8.81	103
109	Moorland	$8.61	169
110	Pilot Mound	$8.54	155
111	Thor	$8.38	182
112	Andover	$8.28	106
113	Thurman	$8.26	162
114	Boxholm	$8.11	177
115	Carpenter	$8.10	92
116	Rome	$8.10	112
117	Westfield	$8.10	121
118	Vincent	$8.09	125
119	Morrison	$7.86	101
120	Mount Auburn	$7.86	162
121	Haverhill	$7.86	164
122	Oyens	$7.86	88
123	Olds	$7.86	174
124	Castalia	$7.86	141
125	Dickens	$7.86	146
126	Rose Hill	$7.86	156
127	West Chester	$7.82	147
128	Cromwell	$7.81	104
129	Mcclelland	$7.79	147
130	Arispe	$7.71	95
131	Luzerne	$7.69	111
132	Lidderdale	$7.68	162
133	Westwood	$7.67	96
134	Bernard	$7.56	117
135	Braddyville	$7.49	142
136	Franklin	$7.31	133
137	Spragueville	$7.20	92
138	Weldon	$7.18	134
139	Brunsville	$6.95	128
140	Zwingle	$6.93	86
141	Packwood	$6.77	186
142	Houghton	$6.73	129
143	Williamson	$6.72	126
144	Lincoln	$6.32	119
145	Gravity	$6.18	149
146	Ackworth	$5.90	117
147	Oakland Acres	$5.88	178
148	Springbrook	$5.79	145
149	Maysville	$5.77	155
150	Harper	$5.29	117
151	Panorama Park	$4.62	142
152	Keomah Village	$3.15	107
153	Mcintire	$2.78	115
154	Sherrill	$2.66	176
155	Centralia	$2.41	117
156	New Liberty	$2.27	141
157	North Buena Vista	$1.78	107

The $8.10 limit

Williamson’s general levy is $6.72 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $1.38 below the limit.⁴ 866 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.01 · FY25 $7.78 · FY26 $8.10 · FY27 $6.72 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

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$20,019100%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Williamson’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 157 Iowa cities closest in size (80–190 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (157)
General Government	50¢	24¢
Public Works	32¢	27¢
Public Safety	12¢	10¢
Culture and Recreation	5¢	8¢
Debt Service	<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.

General Government$29,98049%
Public Works$15,55025%
Culture and Recreation$8,85014%
Public Safety$7,00011%

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$28,000	$15,243
Public Safety	$5,000	$6,598
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$21,600	$22,293
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$9,600	$7,293
Community and Economic Development	$0	$0
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$0	$0

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁵

$81,735

$59,504

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Williamson owes

No debt at June 30, 2026.⁶

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$0	$0
2025	$0	$0
2024	$0	$0
2023	$0	$0
2022	$0	$0
2021	$0	$0
2020	$0	$0
2019	$0	$0
2018	$0	$0
2017	$0	$0
2016	$0	$0
2015	$0	$0
2014	$0	$0
2013	$0	$0
2012	$0	$0
2011	$0	$0
2010	$0	$0

Show the numbers

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$0	$0
2025	$0	$0
2024	$0	$0
2023	$0	$0
2022	$0	$0
2021	$0	$0
2020	$0	$0
2019	$0	$0
2018	$0	$0
2017	$0	$0
2016	$0	$0
2015	$0	$0
2014	$0	$0
2013	$0	$0
2012	$0	$0
2011	$0	$0
2010	$0	$0

The 5% limit⁷

General obligation debt is $0, 0% of the limit of about $232,368 (5% of $4.6M, the full value of its taxable property in 2024).

Money in reserve

The state’s budget files don’t include cities’ fund balances⁸. Williamson’s latest audit has them: Periodic Examination, period ending Sunday, March 31, 2024 (PDF).

Audits⁹

The latest: Periodic Examination for the period ending Sunday, March 31, 2024 (PDF), released Thursday, July 10, 2025, by the Auditor of State.

1 earlier report for Williamson

Periodic Examination, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2016Tuesday, September 5, 2017

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? ¹⁰

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: $13,579 in FY25, down 14% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 31% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$13,948	$13,164	$13,690	$13,579

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−31%$15,753 → $13,579, down 14% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 31% 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 24% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 1% less.

$12,531

$12,519

Business awards

Every award statewide

Elections

Running for mayor and city council

Filing opens Monday, August 23, 2027: in 285 days.

For the Tuesday, November 2, 2027 election, candidates file Monday, August 23, 2027 to Thursday, September 16, 2027 with the county auditor (or the city clerk, if the auditor names the clerk to take them)¹¹.

In a city that can hold a primary, filing runs Monday, August 9, 2027 to Thursday, August 26, 2027.

Most recent: November 7, 2023

City · 3

Williamson City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Teresa L Buckalew Winner2858.3%
Mike McCarty Winner2041.7%

Williamson City Council At-Large To Fill a Vacancy

Tammy Shriver Winner3179.5%
Sara Welch 820.5%

Williamson Mayor

Jack Miller Winner2561.0%
Dennis Chiri 1639.0%

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

Who has filed for Tuesday, November 2, 2027

Filing hasn’t opened. These seats are expected on the ballot.

Williamson City Council At-Large (2 seats)
Now held by Teresa L Buckalew, Mike McCarty
Williamson Mayor
Now held by Jack Miller

Candidates as county auditors and civicAPI list them; a filing can take a few days to appear here¹².

Past ballot measures

None found since 2022.

When a measure can be on the ballot

Tuesday, March 2, 2027 · no bond or debt questions
Tuesday, September 14, 2027 · no bond or debt questions
Tuesday, November 2, 2027 · any question, including bonds
Tuesday, March 7, 2028 · no bond or debt questions

Bonds and other borrowing can only go on the November ballot¹³.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁴

Amy Sinclair (Sen. 12)Sam Wengryn (Rep. 24)

U.S. House:District 3

Lucas County Chariton 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. ↩
The state’s FY24 spending file repeats the year before for nearly every Iowa city, so that year isn’t shown. ↩
From the reports each government files with the Treasurer of State’s debt reporting site. “Per resident” divides by the population the site lists, the same figure for every year, so the trend shows the debt itself changing. ↩
Article XI, section 3 of the Iowa Constitution limits a county, city or school district’s debt to 5% of the value of the taxable property in it. Iowa applies the limit to the full (100%) value, before the rollback, and it covers general obligation debt, backed by property taxes; revenue bonds repaid only from fees, like water bills, don’t count. Iowa Funnel compares general obligation debt with 5% of the value two years earlier, as the last tax lists before the year; a government’s own bond documents state its exact figure. ↩
The Department of Management’s city budget and annual report files on the Iowa Data Hub give revenue and spending by city, but no beginning or ending fund balances. A city’s audit or annual financial report has them, in its statement of net position and its fund balance schedules. ↩
From the Auditor of State’s list of audit reports. Every Iowa city, county and school district is audited or examined: larger ones each year by a CPA firm or the Auditor of State, small cities every few years. Findings are problems the auditors report, from weak controls over cash to breaking a law. ↩
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. ↩
Iowa Code §376.4(1)(a): nomination papers are filed 71 to 47 days before the election, by 5:00 p.m. on the last day. Cities that may hold a primary election file earlier: 85 to 68 days before. ↩
Expected seats come from when each seat was last elected and its term. Filed candidates come from civicAPI and, in Black Hawk, Johnson and Scott counties, the auditor’s published candidate list, read weekly while filing is open. Check with the county auditor or city clerk before relying on it. Only names are shown. ↩
Iowa Code §39.2(4) (2026), paragraph d: “For any political subdivision of this state, if the special election is in whole or in part for the question of issuing bonds or other indebtedness, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.” This applies to bond elections on or after July 1, 2023. Subsection 2 adds that “a special election for a city, school district, or merged area shall not be scheduled to coincide with the general election.” A few kinds of elections follow their own rules (“unless otherwise provided by law”). ↩
Legislative and congressional districts that cover Williamson; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Williamson 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.

Williamson

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Williamson

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Williamson’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What Williamson owes

The 5% limit7

Money in reserve

Audits9

State money

What the state pays the city every year

Has it kept up with prices?

Collected by the state for the city

Business awards

Elections

Most recent: November 7, 2023

Who has filed for Tuesday, November 2, 2027

Past ballot measures

When a measure can be on the ballot

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress14

Compared with places this size³

The 5% limit⁷

Audits⁹

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁴