Local taxes › Woodbury County › Sioux City

City

Sioux City

$3,070 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($36.39 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$1,310 a yearof that goes to the city ($15.51 per $1,000)

$60.3Mproperty taxes the city levies, FY27

$251.6Mcity 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.

Craig S. BerensteinSioux City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Ike RayfordSioux City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Rick BertrandSioux City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Bob ScottSioux City Mayor · elected November 7, 2023
Bob ScottSioux City Mayor · elected November 7, 2023
Julie SchoenherrSioux 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 Sioux City

Homes and businesses in most of Sioux City pay a combined $36.39 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Woodbury County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $15.51. Estimate your bill.

City of Sioux City$15.5143%
Sioux City schools$12.2234%
Woodbury County$7.1120%
Western Iowa Tech Community College$1.023%
Sioux City City Assessor$0.421%
Woodbury County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.11<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$39.67	$15.68
FY21	$36.99	$14.90
FY22	$35.52	$14.45
FY23	$36.42	$15.42
FY24	$36.70	$15.76
FY25	$37.48	$16.54
FY26	$36.56	$17.12
FY27	$34.98	$15.51

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$39.67	$15.68
FY21	$36.99	$14.90
FY22	$35.52	$14.45
FY23	$36.42	$15.42
FY24	$36.70	$15.76
FY25	$37.48	$16.54
FY26	$36.56	$17.12
FY27	$34.98	$15.51

Compared with places this size³

Sioux City’s city property tax rate of $15.51 per $1,000 is the 4th highest of 9 Iowa cities with 59,000–101,000 people. The middle of the group is $15.43.

See all 9

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Waterloo	$21.77	67,477
2	Council Bluffs	$17.48	62,665
3	Davenport	$16.58	100,938
4	Sioux City	$15.51	86,875
5	Iowa City	$15.43	76,710
6	West Des Moines	$10.80	73,664
7	Ames	$10.27	69,026
8	Dubuque	$10.06	58,987
9	Ankeny	$9.90	76,727

The $8.10 limit

Sioux City’s general levy is $8.31 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.21 above the limit; it has to come down in steps.⁴ 86 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $8.56 · FY26 $8.56 · FY27 $8.31 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $7.21 more⁵

Total Employee Benefit Levies$2.89 · $10.9M
Debt Service Levy$2.87 · $12.6M
Opr & Maint publicly owned Transit$0.95 · $3.6M
Liability, property & self insurance costs$0.50 · $1.9M

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$617.2M of taxable value in Sioux City is in TIF districts’ increment (14% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.⁶ It budgeted $17.4M in TIF revenue for FY25.

$15.4M

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 $7.8M of the city’s own.

Sioux City schools$4.7M
Woodbury County$3.9M

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$12.8M
FY17	$13.0M
FY18	$10.1M
FY19	$11.3M
FY20	$11.3M
FY21	$12.6M
FY22	$13.7M
FY23	$15.4M

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$12.8M
FY17	$13.0M
FY18	$10.1M
FY19	$11.3M
FY20	$11.3M
FY21	$12.6M
FY22	$13.7M
FY23	$15.4M

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$31.2M52%
Debt Service Levy$12.6M21%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$10.9M18%
Opr & Maint publicly owned Transit$3.6M6%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$1.9M3%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Sioux 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 8 Iowa cities closest in size (59,000–101,000 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (8)
Business Type / Enterprise	53¢	33¢
Capital Projects	13¢	19¢
Public Safety	12¢	16¢
Debt Service	6¢	9¢
Public Works	5¢	7¢
Everything else	10¢	16¢

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$78.3M31%
Public Safety$62.4M25%
Debt Service$30.7M12%
Public Works$25.7M10%
General Government$19.4M8%
Community and Economic Development$17.9M7%
Culture and Recreation$17.2M7%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($257.3M in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$20.3M	$20.0M
Public Safety	$48.0M	$51.6M
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$16.5M	$5.4M
Debt Service	$30.4M	$23.3M
Culture and Recreation	$13.6M	$14.2M
Community and Economic Development	$11.4M	$13.0M
Capital Projects	$77.3M	$50.8M
Business Type / Enterprise	$109.2M	$91.3M

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁸

$399.1M

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Sioux City owes

$270.7M at June 30, 2026: $3,155 per resident. 266th most per resident of 939 Iowa places of its kind (the list).⁹

$288.1M

$270.7M

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$270.7M	$3,155
2025	$266.3M	$3,103
2024	$266.5M	$3,106
2023	$271.8M	$3,167
2022	$284.5M	$3,316
2021	$288.1M	$3,358
2020	$265.6M	$3,096
2019	$276.6M	$3,224
2018	$269.4M	$3,140
2017	$255.6M	$2,979
2016	$267.3M	$3,115
2015	$263.2M	$3,068
2014	$260.0M	$3,030
2013	$269.2M	$3,138
2012	$247.7M	$2,888
2011	$234.0M	$2,727
2010	$202.0M	$2,354

Show the numbers

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$270.7M	$3,155
2025	$266.3M	$3,103
2024	$266.5M	$3,106
2023	$271.8M	$3,167
2022	$284.5M	$3,316
2021	$288.1M	$3,358
2020	$265.6M	$3,096
2019	$276.6M	$3,224
2018	$269.4M	$3,140
2017	$255.6M	$2,979
2016	$267.3M	$3,115
2015	$263.2M	$3,068
2014	$260.0M	$3,030
2013	$269.2M	$3,138
2012	$247.7M	$2,888
2011	$234.0M	$2,727
2010	$202.0M	$2,354

Up 34% since 2010.

The 5% limit¹⁰

General obligation debt is $148.3M, 42% of the limit of about $351.2M (5% of $7.02B, the full value of its taxable property in 2024).

44 obligations at June 30, 2026

Kind	For	Paid off by	Owed
General Obligation	911-201 FY26 CIP Non-Taxable	2036	$23.4M
Revenue Bonds	916-055 Sewer Infrastructure	2037	$22.9M
General Obligation	911-199 FY 25 CIP non-taxable	2035	$21.6M
Revenue Bonds	916-064 P&D Loan for WWTP Reconstruction	2026	$20.5M
General Obligation	CIP	2033	$13.3M
General Obligation	911-197 - Corporate Purpose	2034	$13.0M
Revenue Bonds	916-043 Rehab of WWTP	2029	$11.6M
Revenue Bonds	916-047 New Water Plant	2032	$11.3M
General Obligation	911-193 FY2023 CIP	2032	$8.7M
General Obligation	911-191 - FY22 Projects and Refunding	2031	$8.2M
General Obligation	911-171 FY 2014 CIP Projects (Development Agreement)	2033	$8.2M
Revenue Bonds	916-059 Sewer Infrastructure (Renewables Fuels)	2041	$7.9M
General Obligation	911-198 Taxable	2034	$7.4M
Revenue Bonds	916-061 Water Infrastructure	2042	$6.3M
General Obligation	911-194 FY 2023 Taxable	2032	$5.7M
Revenue Bonds	916-058 Sewer Infrastructure (Asset Renewal #1)	2041	$5.4M
General Obligation	911-187 FY21 CIP projects	2030	$4.9M
General Obligation	911-192 FY22 Projects and Refunding (Taxable)	2031	$4.7M
General Obligation	911-188 FY21 CIP Taxable	2030	$4.7M
Revenue Bonds	916-057 Water Infrastructure	2039	$4.2M
Revenue Bonds	916-056 Water Infrastructure	2037	$4.0M
General Obligation	911-185 FY 2020 CIP Taxable	2029	$3.8M
Revenue Bonds	916-066 Sewer Digestion & High Strength Waste Project	2045	$3.5M
General Obligation	911-181 FY19 CIP Non-Taxable	2028	$3.5M
General Obligation	911-184 FY 2020 CIP	2029	$3.4M
Revenue Bonds	916-040 Water CIP Projects	2030	$3.4M
General Obligation	911-182 FY19 CIP Taxable	2028	$3.3M
Revenue Bonds	916-065 P&D Loan for WWTP Improvements	2028	$3.2M
General Obligation	911-200 FY 2026 CIP Taxable	2035	$3.2M
Revenue Bonds	916-060 - Airport Water main	2041	$3.1M
General Obligation	911-202 FY26 CIP Taxable	2036	$2.9M
Revenue Bonds	916-044 New Water Plant and Other Infrastructure	2031	$2.9M
Revenue Bonds	916-041 Rehab of WWTP	2028	$2.9M
Revenue Bonds	916-054 Rehab of WWTP	2034	$2.7M
Revenue Bonds	916-039 Sewer WWTP Phase 1A	2027	$2.0M
Revenue Bonds	916-052 New Sewer Lift Station	2034	$1.7M
General Obligation	911-196 CIP Taxable	2033	$1.7M
Revenue Bonds	916-063 Sewer Capital (Renewable Fuels)	2041	$1.4M
General Obligation	911-177 FY18 CIP	2028	$1.2M
General Obligation	911-186 FY2020 CIP UR Taxable	2029	$995,000
Revenue Bonds	916-053 - Ultraviolet - WWTP	2033	$809,000
General Obligation	911-180 FY18 CIP Taxable	2028	$700,000
Revenue Bonds	916-051 New Sanitary Sewer Line	2034	$550,000
General Obligation	911-183 FY19 Urban Renewal	2028	$90,000

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. Sioux 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 Wednesday, March 11, 2026, by a CPA firm.

16 earlier reports for Sioux City

Financial Statement, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2024Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Financial Statement, period ending Friday, June 30, 2023Friday, December 22, 2023
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2022Thursday, December 22, 2022
Financial Statement, period ending Wednesday, June 30, 2021Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Financial Statement, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2020Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Financial Statement, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2019Thursday, December 19, 2019
Financial Statement, period ending Saturday, June 30, 2018Thursday, December 13, 2018
Financial Statement, period ending Friday, June 30, 2017Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2016Thursday, December 15, 2016
Financial Statement, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2015Monday, December 28, 2015
Financial Statement, period ending Monday, June 30, 2014Monday, December 29, 2014
Financial Statement, period ending Sunday, June 30, 2013Monday, December 30, 2013
Financial Statement, period ending Saturday, June 30, 2012Thursday, December 27, 2012
Financial Statement, period ending Thursday, June 30, 2011Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Financial Statement, period ending Wednesday, June 30, 2010Thursday, December 23, 2010
Financial Statement, period ending Tuesday, June 30, 2009Monday, December 28, 2009

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: $14.1M in FY25, up 5% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 16% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$11.4M	$11.9M	$12.1M	$12.1M
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$1.9M	$1.5M	$2.5M	$1.9M

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.

$17.3M

$6.1M

State grants$2.9M48%
Iowa DOT projects$2.9M47%
Iowa Department of Natural Resources$318,3085%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$6.2M
FY20	$17.3M
FY21	$5.6M
FY22	$6.3M
FY23	$8.3M
FY24	$9.7M
FY25	$6.1M

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$6.2M
FY20	$17.3M
FY21	$5.6M
FY22	$6.3M
FY23	$8.3M
FY24	$9.7M
FY25	$6.1M

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−10%$10.7M → $12.1M, up 13% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 10% less
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)−41%$2.6M → $1.9M, down 26% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 41% 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 42% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 13% more.

$18.7M

Federal grants, for comparison: $42.8M in FY25.

Business awards

Every award statewide

State economic development awards

10 businesses have state awards in SIOUX CITY: $13.3M in grants, loans and tax benefits, for 1,338 jobs. Closed projects promised 142 jobs; 137 were there at the end.¹⁴

Cargill Incorporated
High Quality Jobs Program · FY25 · Under contract: Building · 4 jobs required
$336K
Cold-Link Logistics Sioux City, LLC
Targeted Jobs · FY22 · Under contract: Building · 58 jobs required, 53 reported
$459K
Sabre Communications Corporation
High Quality Jobs Program · FY21 · Under contract: Keeping the jobs · 16 jobs required, 16 reported
$1.2M
Meridian Clinical Research, LLC
Targeted Jobs · FY20 · Not going ahead: Contract ended · 41 jobs required
$155K
Interstate Mechanical Corporation
Targeted Jobs · FY18 · Closed: Met its contract · 52 jobs required, 52 at the end
$350K
Sioux City Brick & Tile Company
Targeted Jobs · FY18 · Not going ahead: Declined or withdrawn · 16 jobs required
$275K
Superior Industrial Mechanical Inc. and Rohan Properties, LLC
Targeted Jobs · FY17 · Closed: Met its contract · 26 jobs required, 21 at the end
$152K
C2C Express Inc.
Targeted Jobs · FY17 · Closed: Met its contract · 17 jobs required, 17 at the end
$46K

and 4 more on economic development awards

Community college new jobs training: 33 contracts since 2002 worth $24.2M, for 3,736 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)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

Sioux City City Council At-Large

1 more →

Sioux City City Council At-Large

3 seats: the top 3 win.

Craig S. Berenstein Winner4,97521.7%
Rick Bertrand Winner3,87216.9%
Ike Rayford Winner3,86416.9%
Paul Koskovich 3,70616.2%
Marty Pottebaum 3,70116.1%

1 more →

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Sioux 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.

Sioux City City Council At-Large
Now held by Julie Schoenherr
Sioux City Mayor (2 seats)
Now held by Bob Scott, Bob Scott

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

Catelin Drey (Sen. 1, 87%)Kevin Alons (Sen. 7, 13%)Bob Henderson (Rep. 2, 79%)Jacob Bossman (Rep. 14, 13%)J.D. Scholten (Rep. 1, 8%)

U.S. House:District 4

Woodbury County Hinton schools Lawton-Bronson schools Sergeant Bluff-Luton schools Sioux City 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 Sioux City; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Sioux 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.

Sioux City

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

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

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $7.21 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 Sioux City’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What Sioux 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: $7.21 more⁵

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

The 5% limit¹⁰

Audits¹²

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁸