Local taxes › Mitchell County › St Ansgar

City

St Ansgar

$2,700 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($32.11 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$950 a yearof that goes to the city ($11.25 per $1,000)

$887,724property taxes the city levies, FY27

$3.3Mcity 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.

No officials known 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 St Ansgar

Homes and businesses in most of St Ansgar pay a combined $32.11 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Mitchell County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, its own rate. Estimate your bill.

Everyone else$14.5745%
St Ansgar schools$11.9037%
Mitchell County$5.6418%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$33.29	$12.58
FY21	$33.54	$12.63
FY22	–	$12.69
FY23	–	$12.72
FY24	$29.45	$12.99
FY25	–	$11.17
FY26	$31.72	$11.24
FY27	$32.11	$11.25

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$33.29	$12.58
FY21	$33.54	$12.63
FY22	–	$12.69
FY23	–	$12.72
FY24	$29.45	$12.99
FY25	–	$11.17
FY26	$31.72	$11.24
FY27	$32.11	$11.25

The $8.10 limit

St Ansgar’s general levy is $7.89 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.21 below the limit.³ 545 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $8.13 · FY26 $8.13 · FY27 $7.89 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $3.36 more⁴

Debt Service Levy$1.76 · $169,902
Total Employee Benefit Levies$0.93 · $70,535
Liability, property & self insurance costs$0.66 · $50,169

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$12.2M of taxable value in St Ansgar is in TIF districts’ increment (31% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁵ It budgeted $764,444 in TIF revenue for FY25.

$884,508

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY27⁶

Taxes on TIF value go to the city’s TIF fund instead of the governments that levy them, including about $116,154 of the city’s own.

St Ansgar schools$98,057
Mitchell County$69,072

Year	TIF revenue
FY17	$576,463
FY18	$635,530
FY19	$648,904
FY20	$618,958
FY21	$858,653
FY22	$864,870
FY23	$884,508

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY17	$576,463
FY18	$635,530
FY19	$648,904
FY20	$618,958
FY21	$858,653
FY22	$864,870
FY23	$884,508

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$596,67567%
Debt Service Levy$169,90219%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$70,5358%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$50,1696%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

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$947,53128%
Culture and Recreation$569,47717%
Capital Projects$500,00015%
Public Safety$440,80813%
Public Works$437,43113%
Community and Economic Development$232,5387%
General Government$209,4976%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($1.1M in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$521,679	$710,906
Public Safety	$387,840	$205,584
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$180,178	$131,305
Debt Service	$1.0M	$1.0M
Culture and Recreation	$1.0M	$332,800
Community and Economic Development	$182,825	$64,618
Capital Projects	$2.5M	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$939,916	$908,295

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁷

$4.5M

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What St Ansgar owes

$2.1M at June 30, 2026: $1,848 per resident. 407th most per resident of 939 Iowa places of its kind (the list).⁸

$6.2M

$2.1M

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$2.1M	$1,848
2025	$2.1M	$1,822
2024	$2.3M	$1,956
2023	$2.7M	$2,351
2022	$2.5M	$2,193
2021	$3.0M	$2,549
2020	$3.2M	$2,716
2019	$3.6M	$3,147
2018	$3.1M	$2,678
2017	$2.6M	$2,281
2016	$2.2M	$1,911
2015	$2.4M	$2,046
2014	$2.9M	$2,480
2013	$3.1M	$2,679
2012	$6.2M	$5,366
2011	$2.6M	$2,276
2010	$2.1M	$1,829

Show the numbers

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$2.1M	$1,848
2025	$2.1M	$1,822
2024	$2.3M	$1,956
2023	$2.7M	$2,351
2022	$2.5M	$2,193
2021	$3.0M	$2,549
2020	$3.2M	$2,716
2019	$3.6M	$3,147
2018	$3.1M	$2,678
2017	$2.6M	$2,281
2016	$2.2M	$1,911
2015	$2.4M	$2,046
2014	$2.9M	$2,480
2013	$3.1M	$2,679
2012	$6.2M	$5,366
2011	$2.6M	$2,276
2010	$2.1M	$1,829

Up 1% since 2010.

The 5% limit⁹

General obligation debt is $1.6M, 72% of the limit of about $2.2M (5% of $43.7M, the full value of its taxable property in 2024).

8 obligations at June 30, 2026

Kind	For	Paid off by	Owed
General Obligation	SHOP AND STREETS	2032	$500,000
General Obligation	Drainage, Park, Equipment	2030	$415,000
General Obligation	Industrial Park Streets	2031	$321,000
Revenue Bonds	Sewer Trunkline repair	2043	$285,000
General Obligation	Capital Projects (sewer,water,roads) Equipment and Building	2028	$245,000
Revenue Bonds	Well and Water Infrastructure Project	2032	$149,000
Revenue Bonds	Sewer Improvement Project	2031	$140,000
General Obligation	Water and Sewer lines and Streets	2027	$89,000

General obligation bonds are repaid from property taxes; revenue bonds and loans from the fees or revenue they’re tied to. On the Treasurer’s site

Money in reserve

The state’s budget files don’t include cities’ fund balances¹⁰. St Ansgar’s latest audit has them: Annual Examination, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2026 (PDF).

Audits¹¹

The latest: Annual Examination for the period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2026 (PDF), released Tuesday, October 13, 2026, by a CPA firm.

The report has no Schedule of Findings Iowa Funnel could read.

14 earlier reports for St Ansgar

Annual Examination, period ending Monday, June 30, 2025Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Annual Examination, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2024Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Annual Examination, period ending Friday, June 30, 2023Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Annual Examination, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2022Monday, September 19, 2022
Annual Examination, period ending Wednesday, June 30, 2021Thursday, October 14, 2021
Annual Examination, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2020Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Annual Examination, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2019Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Annual Examination, period ending Saturday, June 30, 2018Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Annual Examination, period ending Friday, June 30, 2017Friday, September 22, 2017
Annual Examination, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2016Friday, January 6, 2017
Annual Examination, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2015Thursday, December 10, 2015
Annual Examination, period ending Monday, June 30, 2014Friday, October 3, 2014
Annual Examination, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2013Thursday, December 19, 2013
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2011Thursday, December 15, 2011

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? ¹²

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: $208,437 in FY25, up 10% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 13% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$159,030	$159,629	$163,853	$164,742
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$47,960	$41,965	$53,955	$43,695

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.

$61,863

$2,674

State grants$2,674100%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$1,652
FY20	$1,642
FY21	$61,863
FY22	$1,737
FY23	$0
FY24	$1,675
FY25	$2,674

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$1,652
FY20	$1,642
FY21	$61,863
FY22	$1,737
FY23	$0
FY24	$1,675
FY25	$2,674

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−8%$143,009 → $164,742, up 15% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 8% less
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)−26%$47,239 → $43,695, down 8% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 26% 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 34% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 7% more.

$173,200

$168,123

Federal grants, for comparison: $22,107 in FY25.

Business awards

Every award statewide

State economic development awards

Community college new jobs training: 1 contract since 2021 worth $1.3M, for 92 pledged jobs.

Awards statewide

Elections

Running for mayor and city council

Filing opens Monday, August 23, 2027: in 284 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)¹³.

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

No local races loaded yet.

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 ballot¹⁴.

Related places

Mitchell County St Ansgar 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. ↩
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. ↩
This multiplies the taxable value in the city’s TIF districts by each government’s rate on TIF value. It is not the money each government lost: without TIF, the same taxes would be spread over a bigger base, so rates would be lower for everyone; the state’s school aid formula makes up much of a school district’s share; and some of the value might not have been built without TIF. Each government still gets its debt service levy on TIF value, and a school district its physical plant and equipment and instructional support levies; those aren’t counted here. Community colleges, assessors and other smaller levies are left out. ↩
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. ↩
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”). ↩

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.

St Ansgar

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in St Ansgar

Rates over time

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $3.36 more4

Tax increment financing (TIF)

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY276

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What St Ansgar owes

The 5% limit9

Money in reserve

Audits11

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

Business awards

State economic development awards

Elections

Past ballot measures

When a measure can be on the ballot

Related places

Outside the limit: $3.36 more⁴

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY27⁶

The 5% limit⁹

Audits¹¹