City

Elkhart

$3,440 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($40.85 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$1,010 a yearof that goes to the city ($12.00 per $1,000)

$804,581property taxes the city levies, FY27

$1.6Mcity 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.

Angela SchafferElkhart City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
John M. KaczmarczykElkhart Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Travis WarnkeElkhart City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Bradley D. CampbellElkhart City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Bradley FordyceElkhart City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Jill EdlerElkhart 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 Elkhart

Homes and businesses in most of Elkhart pay a combined $40.85 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Polk County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $12.00. Estimate your bill.

North Polk schools$18.7146%
City of Elkhart$12.0029%
Polk County$6.6116%
Broadlawns Medical Center$2.466%
Des Moines Area Community College$0.812%
Polk County Assessor$0.23<1%
Polk County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.03<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$40.13	$10.11
FY21	$39.56	$10.11
FY22	$39.71	$10.51
FY23	$40.31	$11.25
FY24	$40.79	$11.61
FY25	$40.59	$11.60
FY26	$40.53	$11.60
FY27	$40.85	$12.00

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$40.13	$10.11
FY21	$39.56	$10.11
FY22	$39.71	$10.51
FY23	$40.31	$11.25
FY24	$40.79	$11.61
FY25	$40.59	$11.60
FY26	$40.53	$11.60
FY27	$40.85	$12.00

Compared with places this size³

Elkhart’s city property tax rate of $12.00 per $1,000 is the 56th lowest of 162 Iowa cities with 720–1,600 people. The middle of the group is $13.30.

See all 162

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Elkader	$27.11	1,192
2	Exira	$24.81	766
3	Laurens	$24.16	1,253
4	Dayton	$22.51	766
5	Correctionville	$19.84	759
6	Villisca	$19.74	1,106
7	Traer	$19.56	1,547
8	Corning	$19.36	1,509
9	Allison	$19.06	937
10	Corydon	$18.22	1,563
11	Dysart	$17.95	1,266
12	Greene	$17.91	971
13	Alden	$17.90	738
14	Lansing	$17.67	959
15	Strawberry Point	$17.58	1,141
16	Rockwell	$17.54	1,044
17	Walnut	$17.46	728
18	Gowrie	$17.17	943
19	Colo	$17.14	856
20	Mapleton	$16.90	1,114
21	George	$16.89	1,106
22	Fayette	$16.85	1,193
23	Adair	$16.84	792
24	Eddyville	$16.82	965
25	Nashua	$16.81	1,515
26	Ackley	$16.63	1,538
27	Buffalo Center	$16.58	839
28	Roland	$16.51	1,376
29	Eldon	$16.42	788
30	Monona	$16.41	1,462
31	Aplington	$16.34	1,088
32	Panora	$16.14	1,096
33	Mechanicsville	$16.12	974
34	Dike	$15.94	1,293
35	Armstrong	$15.87	847
36	Holstein	$15.81	1,475
37	State Center	$15.80	1,403
38	Earlham	$15.55	1,411
39	Shell Rock	$15.52	1,265
40	Brooklyn	$15.49	1,474
41	Newell	$15.49	850
42	Mount Ayr	$15.32	1,616
43	Riceville	$15.31	807
44	Neola	$15.30	917
45	Sidney	$15.19	1,048
46	Gilbertville	$15.15	792
47	Logan	$15.05	1,351
48	Griswold	$15.01	975
49	Readlyn	$14.99	857
50	Tripoli	$14.99	1,208
51	Essex	$14.76	721
52	Bedford	$14.66	1,474
53	Lenox	$14.65	1,355
54	Manning	$14.62	1,390
55	Dunlap	$14.56	1,030
56	Garnavillo	$14.52	751
57	Maxwell	$14.50	862
58	Coon Rapids	$14.49	1,258
59	Nora Springs	$14.25	1,330
60	Kingsley	$14.25	1,394
61	Mcgregor	$14.20	725
62	Primghar	$14.18	893
63	Sheffield	$14.16	1,123
64	Hartley	$14.11	1,584
65	Woodward	$14.05	1,383
66	Guthrie Center	$14.04	1,579
67	Ossian	$13.88	777
68	Alton	$13.87	1,248
69	Montezuma	$13.79	1,421
70	Victor	$13.72	852
71	Gilbert	$13.71	1,397
72	Edgewood	$13.64	908
73	Sioux Rapids	$13.63	722
74	Donnellson	$13.63	859
75	Gladbrook	$13.58	775
76	Clarksville	$13.53	1,238
77	Rockford	$13.52	722
78	Janesville	$13.43	1,052
79	Glidden	$13.43	1,140
80	Calmar	$13.39	1,100
81	Baxter	$13.32	983
82	Manly	$13.29	1,233
83	Anita	$13.28	953
84	Van Horne	$13.27	768
85	Conrad	$13.23	1,098
86	Springville	$13.22	1,161
87	Keota	$13.21	888
88	Shellsburg	$13.20	987
89	De Soto	$13.18	937
90	Treynor	$13.03	1,104
91	Odebolt	$13.00	967
92	Akron	$12.93	1,545
93	Danville	$12.87	910
94	Underwood	$12.85	973
95	New Sharon	$12.80	1,249
96	Malvern	$12.79	1,056
97	Montrose	$12.78	734
98	Buffalo	$12.68	1,163
99	Sanborn	$12.62	1,463
100	West Point	$12.39	903
101	Hinton	$12.38	959
102	Preston	$12.38	940
103	Hubbard	$12.30	837
104	Carson	$12.22	772
105	Wheatland	$12.18	765
106	Winfield	$12.04	1,006
107	Elkhart	$12.00	1,079
108	Afton	$11.96	864
109	Lowden	$11.93	767
110	Tabor	$11.88	983
111	Wellman	$11.88	1,531
112	Aurelia	$11.84	970
113	Palo	$11.49	1,554
114	Wall Lake	$11.43	739
115	West Bend	$11.42	770
116	Dakota City	$11.39	764
117	Marcus	$11.31	1,069
118	Dunkerton	$11.30	840
119	Whiting	$11.21	725
120	Melcher-Dallas	$11.21	1,193
121	Shelby	$11.17	730
122	University Heights	$11.12	1,188
123	Manilla	$11.01	756
124	Hamburg	$10.95	863
125	Clarence	$10.94	991
126	Oakland	$10.85	1,519
127	Cambridge	$10.53	844
128	Swisher	$10.39	909
129	Schleswig	$10.39	820
130	Melbourne	$10.38	771
131	Elk Run Heights	$10.33	1,061
132	Walcott	$10.29	1,556
133	Fredericksburg	$10.27	983
134	Lake Park	$10.25	1,155
135	Inwood	$10.22	962
136	Milo	$10.20	762
137	Hartford	$10.16	729
138	Central City	$10.01	1,254
139	Newhall	$9.99	887
140	Graettinger	$9.81	810
141	Long Grove	$9.59	849
142	Lake View	$9.39	1,120
143	Paullina	$9.21	979
144	Fairbank	$9.00	1,133
145	Winthrop	$8.94	814
146	Walford	$8.72	1,357
147	Keosauqua	$8.58	944
148	Princeton	$8.24	917
149	Lone Tree	$8.13	1,341
150	Riverside	$8.02	1,063
151	Hills	$7.94	911
152	Larchwood	$7.52	954
153	North English	$7.49	1,030
154	Sloan	$7.49	1,078
155	Sully	$7.41	891
156	Fruitland	$7.21	928
157	Lawton	$7.10	949
158	Wayland	$7.07	935
159	Raymond	$6.85	754
160	Shueyville	$6.79	725
161	Arnolds Park	$4.95	1,214
162	Okoboji	$3.83	729

The $8.10 limit

Elkhart’s general levy is $7.99 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.11 below the limit.⁴ 445 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $8.48 · FY26 $8.23 · FY27 $7.99 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $4.01 more⁵

Debt Service Levy$2.31 · $180,529
Total Employee Benefit Levies$1.22 · $78,430
Liability, property & self insurance costs$0.47 · $30,123

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$13.9M of taxable value in Elkhart is in TIF districts’ increment (18% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁶ It budgeted $630,000 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$512,53964%
Debt Service Levy$180,52923%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$78,43010%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$30,1234%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Elkhart’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 161 Iowa cities closest in size (720–1,600 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (161)
Debt Service	24¢	6¢
Business Type / Enterprise	19¢	40¢
Public Safety	16¢	10¢
Public Works	13¢	14¢
General Government	13¢	8¢
Everything else	16¢	21¢

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$554,10235%
Public Works$302,41619%
Public Safety$244,14116%
General Government$242,11216%
Culture and Recreation$113,8227%
Community and Economic Development$55,3194%
Capital Projects$50,0003%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($444,002 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$261,115	$158,974
Public Safety	$198,504	$173,972
Health and Social Services	$3,000	$1,594
General Government	$194,442	$196,867
Debt Service	$390,014	$541,324
Culture and Recreation	$67,501	$71,362
Community and Economic Development	$30,500	$38,755
Capital Projects	$4.8M	$1.4M
Business Type / Enterprise	$327,356	$466,509

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁷

$6.7M

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: $125,261 in FY25, up 175% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 119% more. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$60,097	$116,836	$124,585	$125,261
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	–	–	–	–

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.

$100,000

$83,955

State grants$75,00089%
Iowa DOT projects$4,9556%
Iowa Department of Natural Resources$4,0005%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$0
FY20	$1,000
FY21	$0
FY22	$0
FY23	$100,000
FY24	$16,479
FY25	$83,955

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$0
FY20	$1,000
FY21	$0
FY22	$0
FY23	$100,000
FY24	$16,479
FY25	$83,955

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)+120%$45,337 → $125,261, up 176% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 120% more

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 down 24% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 39% less.

$224,538

$171,746

Federal grants, for comparison: $105,431 in FY23.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Elkhart City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Angela Schaffer Winner7740.5%
Travis Warnke Winner6031.6%
Rob Fouraker 5327.9%

Elkhart Mayor

John M. Kaczmarczyk Unopposed95100.0%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹

Jack Whitver (Sen. 23)Brian K. Lohse (Rep. 45)

U.S. House:District 3

Polk County North Polk 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 Elkhart; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Elkhart 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.

Elkhart

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Elkhart

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $4.01 more5

Tax increment financing (TIF)

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Elkhart’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: $4.01 more⁵

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁹