City

Polk City

$3,130 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($37.14 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$930 a yearof that goes to the city ($11.00 per $1,000)

$4.2Mproperty taxes the city levies, FY27

$17.0Mcity 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.

David DvorakPolk City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
James HillPolk City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Steve KarsjenPolk City Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Jeff SavagePolk City City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Nicholas OtisPolk City City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Robert SarchetPolk City 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 Polk City

Homes and businesses in most of Polk City pay a combined $39.85 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, $11.00. Estimate your bill.

North Polk schools$18.7147%
City of Polk City$11.0028%
Polk County$6.6117%
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 Polk City pay, and the city government’s own piece of it.

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$39.96	$9.91
FY21	$39.87	$10.39
FY22	$39.64	$10.39
FY23	$40.05	$11.00
FY24	$38.41	$11.00
FY25	$37.26	$11.00
FY26	$37.15	$11.00
FY27	$37.14	$11.00

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$39.96	$9.91
FY21	$39.87	$10.39
FY22	$39.64	$10.39
FY23	$40.05	$11.00
FY24	$38.41	$11.00
FY25	$37.26	$11.00
FY26	$37.15	$11.00
FY27	$37.14	$11.00

Compared with places this size³

Polk City’s city property tax rate of $11.00 per $1,000 is the 8th lowest of 55 Iowa cities with 4,300–9,500 people. The middle of the group is $14.96.

See all 55

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Red Oak	$20.65	5,420
2	Oelwein	$20.16	5,788
3	Keokuk	$19.68	9,462
4	Independence	$19.01	6,266
5	Iowa Falls	$18.86	4,993
6	Denison	$18.69	8,302
7	Perry	$17.91	8,046
8	Atlantic	$17.48	6,717
9	Knoxville	$17.46	7,440
10	Clarinda	$17.25	5,334
11	Centerville	$16.85	5,345
12	Algona	$16.75	5,341
13	Fairfield	$16.69	9,511
14	Webster City	$16.51	7,763
15	Vinton	$16.25	4,962
16	Winterset	$16.15	5,421
17	Humboldt	$16.00	4,774
18	Anamosa	$15.95	5,845
19	Charles City	$15.95	7,081
20	Grinnell	$15.60	9,495
21	Decorah	$15.52	7,454
22	Sheldon	$15.33	5,584
23	Estherville	$15.27	5,796
24	Washington	$15.21	7,281
25	Harlan	$15.07	4,898
26	Shenandoah	$15.02	4,878
27	Creston	$14.99	7,421
28	Manchester	$14.96	5,283
29	Hampton	$14.86	4,340
30	Carlisle	$14.82	4,381
31	Cherokee	$14.82	5,186
32	Glenwood	$14.77	5,250
33	Nevada	$14.58	7,082
34	Osceola	$14.37	5,585
35	Windsor Heights	$14.30	5,106
36	Orange City	$14.01	6,547
37	Hiawatha	$13.78	7,347
38	Sergeant Bluff	$13.70	5,335
39	Mount Vernon	$13.50	4,518
40	Adel	$13.43	6,763
41	Maquoketa	$12.85	6,064
42	Camanche	$12.75	4,536
43	Le Claire	$12.64	4,776
44	Mount Pleasant	$11.94	8,509
45	Tiffin	$11.80	6,695
46	Huxley	$11.68	4,737
47	Sioux Center	$11.05	8,675
48	Polk City	$11.00	6,430
49	Bondurant	$10.82	9,511
50	Dyersville	$10.27	4,559
51	Spirit Lake	$10.17	5,548
52	Clear Lake	$9.85	7,602
53	Asbury	$8.32	6,051
54	Eldridge	$8.13	6,967
55	Evansdale	$8.00	4,515

The $8.10 limit

Polk City’s general levy is $8.13 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.03 above the limit; it has to come down in steps.⁴ 222 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 $8.13 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $2.87 more⁵

Debt Service Levy$1.60 · $741,171
Total Employee Benefit Levies$1.27 · $465,624

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$97.6M of taxable value in Polk City is in TIF districts’ increment (21% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁶ It budgeted $1.4M in TIF revenue for FY25.

$760,076

$616,346

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY27⁷

Taxes on TIF value go to the city’s TIF fund instead of the governments that levy them, including about $917,317 of the city’s own.

Polk County$584,529
Ankeny schools$16,791

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$370,497
FY17	$253,561
FY18	$303,269
FY19	$342,325
FY20	$458,485
FY21	$384,389
FY22	$760,076
FY23	$616,346

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$370,497
FY17	$253,561
FY18	$303,269
FY19	$342,325
FY20	$458,485
FY21	$384,389
FY22	$760,076
FY23	$616,346

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$3.0M71%
Debt Service Levy$741,17118%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$465,62411%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Polk City’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 54 Iowa cities closest in size (4,300–9,500 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (54)
Capital Projects	47¢	20¢
Business Type / Enterprise	18¢	35¢
Public Safety	12¢	13¢
Debt Service	7¢	8¢
Community and Economic Development	5¢	3¢
Everything else	10¢	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.

Capital Projects$8.1M48%
Public Safety$3.2M19%
Debt Service$1.8M11%
Community and Economic Development$1.3M8%
Culture and Recreation$1.2M7%
Public Works$773,1305%
General Government$564,2793%
Health and Social Services$2,5000%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($4.3M in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$615,518	$639,774
Public Safety	$2.7M	$2.4M
Health and Social Services	$2,000	$0
General Government	$550,185	$690,201
Debt Service	$932,930	$924,594
Culture and Recreation	$810,755	$796,841
Community and Economic Development	$416,009	$462,828
Capital Projects	$4.4M	$4.1M
Business Type / Enterprise	$3.6M	$3.4M

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁸

$21.6M

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Polk City owes

$24.2M at June 30, 2026: $4,361 per resident. 156th most per resident of 939 Iowa places of its kind (the list).⁹

$24.2M

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$24.2M	$4,361
2025	$18.2M	$3,285
2024	$13.6M	$2,450
2023	$10.6M	$1,921
2022	$11.3M	$2,031
2021	$5.2M	$946
2020	$3.9M	$700
2019	$4.1M	$740
2018	$1.3M	$234
2017	$1.4M	$253
2016	$1.5M	$272
2015	$1.6M	$290
2014	$0	$0
2013	$0	$0
2012	$0	$0
2011	$0	$0
2010	$0	$0

Show the numbers

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$24.2M	$4,361
2025	$18.2M	$3,285
2024	$13.6M	$2,450
2023	$10.6M	$1,921
2022	$11.3M	$2,031
2021	$5.2M	$946
2020	$3.9M	$700
2019	$4.1M	$740
2018	$1.3M	$234
2017	$1.4M	$253
2016	$1.5M	$272
2015	$1.6M	$290
2014	$0	$0
2013	$0	$0
2012	$0	$0
2011	$0	$0
2010	$0	$0

Up 1401% since 2015.

The 5% limit¹⁰

General obligation debt is $19.9M, 42% of the limit of about $47.1M (5% of $942.1M, the full value of its taxable property in 2024).

9 obligations at June 30, 2026

Kind	For	Paid off by	Owed
General Obligation	GO 2025A Regional Park	2045	$5.2M
General Obligation	GO 2022 City facilities and trails	2042	$3.9M
General Obligation	GO 2023 City facilities, streets and trails	2043	$3.4M
Revenue Bonds	Series 2024B Water Revenue Bonds for construction of Water Tower	2045	$2.6M
General Obligation	GO 2024A Water Tower Bonds	2044	$2.5M
General Obligation	corporate purpose and refunding	2041	$2.1M
General Obligation	2018 GO Water Improvements	2038	$2.1M
Revenue Bonds	2025B CIWW Buy In	2045	$1.7M
General Obligation	GO 2020 Street improvement project	2030	$685,000

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 balances¹¹. Polk City’s latest audit has them: Financial Statement, period ending Monday, June 30, 2025 (PDF).

Audits¹²

The latest: Financial Statement for the period ending Monday, June 30, 2025 (PDF), released Monday, January 12, 2026, by a CPA firm.

17 earlier reports for Polk City

Financial Statement, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2024Monday, January 13, 2025
Financial Statement, period ending Friday, June 30, 2023Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2022Monday, March 6, 2023
Financial Statement, period ending Wednesday, June 30, 2021Monday, February 7, 2022
Financial Statement, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2020Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Financial Statement, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2019Thursday, February 27, 2020
Financial Statement, period ending Saturday, June 30, 2018Monday, April 1, 2019
Financial Statement, period ending Friday, June 30, 2017Thursday, March 29, 2018
Special Investigation/Fraud, period ending Thursday, December 31, 2015Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2016Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Financial Statement, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2015Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Financial Statement, period ending Monday, June 30, 2014Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Financial Statement, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2013Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Financial Statement, period ending Saturday, June 30, 2012Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2011Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Financial Statement, period ending Wednesday, June 30, 2010Monday, November 22, 2010
Financial Statement, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2009Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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? ¹³

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: $829,891 in FY25, up 82% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 45% more. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$713,246	$762,779	$782,963	$825,426
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$-253	$7,255	$12,013	$4,465

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.

$7.0M

$29,284

State grants$29,284100%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$8,706
FY20	$53,371
FY21	$2.2M
FY22	$7.0M
FY23	$188,349
FY24	$528,286
FY25	$29,284

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$8,706
FY20	$53,371
FY21	$2.2M
FY22	$7.0M
FY23	$188,349
FY24	$528,286
FY25	$29,284

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)+49%$441,557 → $825,426, up 87% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 49% more
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)−77%$15,571 → $4,465, down 71% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 77% 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 down 32% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 46% less.

$1.8M

$1.2M

Federal grants, for comparison: $397,582 in FY23.

Business awards

Every award statewide

State economic development awards

1 business has state awards in POLK CITY: $756K in grants, loans and tax benefits, for 29 jobs.¹⁴

Ihle Fabrications, LLC
High Quality Jobs Program · FY24 · Under contract: Building · 29 jobs required
$756K

Awards 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)¹⁵.

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

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Polk City City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

James Hill Winner65350.6%
David Dvorak Winner63749.4%

Polk City Mayor

Steve Karsjen Unopposed580100.0%

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Polk City; 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.

Polk City City Council At-Large (3 seats)
Now held by Nicholas Otis, Robert Sarchet, Jeff Savage

Candidates as county auditors and civicAPI list them; a filing can take a few days to appear here¹⁶.

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 ballot¹⁷.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁸

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

U.S. House:District 3

Polk County Ankeny schools 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. ↩
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. ↩
From the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s project records on the Iowa Data Hub (High Quality Jobs and Targeted Jobs awards since about 2013). Projects that won’t go ahead aren’t counted. ↩
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 Polk City; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Polk City 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.

Polk City

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Polk City

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $2.87 more5

Tax increment financing (TIF)

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY277

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Polk City’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What Polk City owes

The 5% limit10

Money in reserve

Audits12

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

Most recent: November 4, 2025

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 Congress18

Compared with places this size³

Outside the limit: $2.87 more⁵

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY27⁷

The 5% limit¹⁰

Audits¹²

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁸