Local taxes › Winnebago County › Scarville

City

Scarville

$2,550 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($30.29 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$680 a yearof that goes to the city ($8.10 per $1,000)

$11,711property taxes the city levies, FY27

$135,641city 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.

Cory MathahsScarville Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Kevin GrotheScarville City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Matt LeuwerkeScarville City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Carla LangfaldScarville City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Jeremy HobbsScarville City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Lynn SandenScarville 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 Scarville

Homes and businesses in most of Scarville pay a combined $30.29 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Winnebago County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $8.10. Estimate your bill.

Lake Mills schools$11.4038%
Winnebago County$8.4928%
City of Scarville$8.1027%
North Iowa Area Community College$1.244%
Winnebago County Assessor$0.752%
Winnebago County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.301%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$29.00	$6.58
FY21	$28.59	$6.24
FY22	$33.69	$12.31
FY23	$25.49	$5.87
FY24	$28.57	$5.71
FY25	$27.94	$5.71
FY26	$22.92	$0.00
FY27	$30.29	$8.10

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$29.00	$6.58
FY21	$28.59	$6.24
FY22	$33.69	$12.31
FY23	$25.49	$5.87
FY24	$28.57	$5.71
FY25	$27.94	$5.71
FY26	$22.92	$0.00
FY27	$30.29	$8.10

Compared with places this size³

Scarville’s city property tax rate of $8.10 per $1,000 is the 40th lowest of 91 Iowa cities with 50–110 people. The middle of the group is $9.44.

See all 91

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Castana	$34.13	103
2	Dougherty	$25.38	61
3	Hansell	$23.66	85
4	Whitten	$22.65	98
5	Stanley	$20.69	86
6	Ricketts	$19.22	105
7	Varina	$19.09	69
8	Sharpsburg	$18.93	69
9	Grant	$18.71	82
10	Derby	$18.13	89
11	Vining	$16.97	53
12	Waterville	$16.25	112
13	Northboro	$15.81	52
14	Popejoy	$15.80	76
15	Marne	$15.03	109
16	Baldwin	$14.91	99
17	Truesdale	$14.56	64
18	Yorktown	$14.48	60
19	Ferguson	$13.53	98
20	Lanesboro	$13.53	112
21	Cylinder	$12.52	84
22	Aredale	$12.19	59
23	Colwell	$12.14	52
24	Arion	$12.14	99
25	Dolliver	$11.85	63
26	Morley	$11.74	94
27	Toronto	$11.68	101
28	Matlock	$11.44	74
29	Melrose	$11.27	110
30	Nodaway	$11.20	74
31	Promise City	$11.13	91
32	Plover	$11.10	52
33	Masonville	$11.00	98
34	Numa	$10.80	69
35	Pacific Junction	$10.56	99
36	Oto	$10.45	71
37	Bradgate	$10.37	76
38	North Washington	$10.23	107
39	Dawson	$10.19	110
40	Guernsey	$10.13	59
41	Hartwick	$9.90	91
42	Gray	$9.85	62
43	Webster	$9.55	94
44	Nemaha	$9.53	65
45	Martinsburg	$9.49	109
46	Kirkman	$9.44	60
47	Wiota	$9.32	91
48	Fraser	$8.81	107
49	Macksburg	$8.81	103
50	Andover	$8.28	106
51	Knierim	$8.13	53
52	Scarville	$8.10	75
53	Carpenter	$8.10	92
54	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
55	Clio	$8.10	67
56	Orchard	$8.10	64
57	Rome	$8.10	112
58	Shannon City	$8.10	73
59	Struble	$8.10	72
60	Turin	$8.10	69
61	Unionville	$8.10	74
62	Buckeye	$7.94	82
63	Gruver	$7.89	63
64	Redding	$7.86	64
65	Morrison	$7.86	101
66	Oyens	$7.86	88
67	Ralston	$7.86	76
68	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
69	Cromwell	$7.81	104
70	Arispe	$7.71	95
71	Luzerne	$7.69	111
72	Westwood	$7.67	96
73	Kinross	$7.57	80
74	Bevington	$7.41	62
75	Garber	$7.35	76
76	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
77	Greenville	$7.24	69
78	Spragueville	$7.20	92
79	Craig	$7.01	78
80	Zwingle	$6.93	86
81	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
82	Willey	$6.69	72
83	Tennant	$6.29	83
84	Sandyville	$6.06	59
85	Plano	$4.66	57
86	Hardy	$4.36	55
87	Keomah Village	$3.15	107
88	Graf	$2.56	76
89	Gibson	$1.88	58
90	North Buena Vista	$1.78	107
91	Balltown	$0.12	78

The $8.10 limit

Scarville’s general levy is $8.10 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, at the limit.⁴ 247 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $5.87 · FY24 $5.71 · FY25 $5.71 · FY27 $8.10 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$6.1M of taxable value in Scarville is in TIF districts’ increment (81% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁵ It budgeted $130,900 in TIF revenue for FY25.

$93,212

$74,143

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 $49,538 of the city’s own.

Lake Mills schools$56,481
Winnebago County$49,762

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$40,938
FY17	$64,340
FY18	$64,542
FY19	$92,131
FY20	$92,083
FY21	$93,212
FY22	$87,900
FY23	$74,143

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$40,938
FY17	$64,340
FY18	$64,542
FY19	$92,131
FY20	$92,083
FY21	$93,212
FY22	$87,900
FY23	$74,143

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$11,478100%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Scarville’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 92 Iowa cities closest in size (50–110 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (92)
Community and Economic Development	46¢	2¢
Capital Projects	29¢	2¢
General Government	11¢	32¢
Public Safety	8¢	11¢
Public Works	5¢	32¢
Everything else	1¢	7¢

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$60,00044%
Public Safety$29,76122%
Public Works$22,20016%
General Government$20,06515%
Culture and Recreation$3,6153%

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$22,200	$38,157
Public Safety	$17,225	$18,444
Health and Social Services	$350	$0
General Government	$26,200	$34,759
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$1,650	$1,940
Community and Economic Development	$32,900	$55,000
Capital Projects	$61,500	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$0	$0

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁷

$616,985

$539,007

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Scarville owes

$496,652 at June 30, 2026: $6,712 per resident. 58th most per resident of 939 Iowa places of its kind (the list).⁸

$808,538

$496,652

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$496,652	$6,712
2025	$538,781	$7,281
2024	$613,172	$8,286
2023	$313,172	$4,232
2022	$331,344	$4,478
2021	$380,306	$5,139
2020	$808,538	$10,926
2019	$808,538	$10,926
2018	$808,538	$10,926
2017	$292,912	$3,958
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	$496,652	$6,712
2025	$538,781	$7,281
2024	$613,172	$8,286
2023	$313,172	$4,232
2022	$331,344	$4,478
2021	$380,306	$5,139
2020	$808,538	$10,926
2019	$808,538	$10,926
2018	$808,538	$10,926
2017	$292,912	$3,958
2016	$0	$0
2015	$0	$0
2014	$0	$0
2013	$0	$0
2012	$0	$0
2011	$0	$0
2010	$0	$0

Up 70% since 2017.

The 5% limit⁹

General obligation debt is $0, 0% of the limit of about $434,812 (5% of $8.7M, the full value of its taxable property in 2024).

2 obligations at June 30, 2026

Kind	For	Paid off by	Owed
Loans	INSTALLED SEWER SYSTEM IN SCARVILLE	2056	$288,316
Loans	Loan to update Fire Station	2027	$208,336

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. Scarville’s latest audit has them: Periodic Examination, period ending Thursday, March 31, 2022 (PDF).

Audits¹¹

The latest: Periodic Examination for the period ending Thursday, March 31, 2022 (PDF), released Tuesday, January 3, 2023, by a CPA firm.

1 earlier report for Scarville

Special Investigation/Fraud, period ending Thursday, March 31, 2011Wednesday, June 27, 2012

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: $8,981 in FY25, up 72% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 37% more. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$7,206	$7,106	$6,303	$8,981

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.

$50,084

$1,000

State grants$1,000100%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$0
FY20	$12,354
FY21	$50,084
FY22	$0
FY23	$0
FY24	$0
FY25	$1,000

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$0
FY20	$12,354
FY21	$50,084
FY22	$0
FY23	$0
FY24	$0
FY25	$1,000

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)+37%$5,218 → $8,981, up 72% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 37% 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 16% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 33% less.

$11,657

$6,636

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)¹³.

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

Scarville City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Matt Leuwerke Winner1142.3%
Kevin Grothe Winner934.6%
Cristina Carter 623.1%

Scarville Mayor

Cory Mathahs Unopposed17100.0%

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Scarville; 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.

Scarville City Council At-Large (3 seats)
Now held by Lynn Sanden, Carla Langfald, Jeremy Hobbs

Candidates as county auditors and civicAPI list them; a filing can take a few days to appear here¹⁴.

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 ballot¹⁵.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁶

David D. Rowley (Sen. 5)Henry Stone (Rep. 9)

U.S. House:District 4

Winnebago County Lake Mills 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. ↩
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. ↩
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 Scarville; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Scarville 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.

Scarville

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Scarville

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Tax increment financing (TIF)

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

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Scarville’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What Scarville 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

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 Congress16

Compared with places this size³

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

The 5% limit⁹

Audits¹¹

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁶