Local taxes › Cedar County
Cedar County
Property tax rates, local option sales tax and state payments to the county and its cities.
Property tax rates
Typical combined rate per $1,000 of taxable value, and the county government’s own share of it.
| Year | In cities | Rural | County’s rural levy |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY27 | $35.25 | $24.82 | $8.85 |
| FY26 | $35.82 | $25.00 | $8.78 |
| FY25 | $36.22 | $24.61 | $8.81 |
| FY24 | $33.76 | $24.02 | $8.06 |
| FY23 | $35.45 | $23.91 | $7.79 |
| FY22 | $34.14 | $24.66 | $8.85 |
| FY21 | $32.93 | $24.40 | $8.67 |
| FY20 | $32.52 | $24.33 | $8.47 |
Cities, FY27
| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Bennett | $31.30 | +4.1% |
| Clarence | $32.56 | +6.1% |
| Durant | $37.32 | +15.4% |
| Lowden | $33.55 | +6.5% |
| Mechanicsville | $37.73 | +9.9% |
| Stanwood | $36.95 | +8.4% |
| Tipton | $37.31 | +9.3% |
| West Branch | $35.25 | -1.7% |
| Wilton | $33.79 | -4.5% |
Taxable value
$1.62B in 2025 valuations, +16.1% since 2020. By kind of property:
- Homes50%
- Farmland and farm buildings30%
- Commercial11%
- Industrial4%
- Utilities and railroads4%
- Other0%
Local option sales tax collected
| FY24 | FY23 | FY22 | FY21 | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2.7M | $2.5M | $2.4M | $2.5M | $2.2M | $1.9M | $1.8M | $1.7M |
State payments to the county and its cities
| Program | FY27 | FY26 | FY25 | FY24 | FY23 | FY22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local option sales tax | $170,460 | $2.1M | $2.1M | $2.4M | $2.4M | $2.6M |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $978,401 | $919,672 | $837,488 | $810,605 | $796,554 |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $480,380 | $637,422 | $629,000 | $536,478 | $508,845 | $550,350 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $904,492 | $901,218 | $797,933 | $793,051 |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $14,943 | $15,462 | $18,574 | $16,108 | $17,328 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $11,714 | $12,124 | $12,367 |
Who received them, FY26
- Cedar County$3.0M
- City of West Branch$319,434
- City of Mechanicsville$133,274
- City of Clarence$132,550
- City of Lowden$101,475
- City of Stanwood$80,499
- City of Bennett$44,927
The county’s budget
Cedar County plans to spend $27.0M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $22.3M in FY25.
- Public safety & legal services$8.8M
- Roads & transportation$8.3M
- Capital projects$2.5M
- Administration$2.1M
- Parks, libraries, extension & environment$2.0M
- Physical health & social services$1.9M
- Debt payments$720,505
- Services to residents (records, elections, licenses)$702,823
- Other$8,400
Its property tax levies, FY27
Dollars per $1,000 of taxable value. Everyone in the county pays the countywide levies; people outside cities also pay the rural ones, which mostly pay for roads and rural services.
- General Basic · countywide$3.50
- General Supplemental · countywide$1.35
- 422D EMS · countywide$0.74
- Debt Service · countywide$0.50
- Pioneer Cemetery · countywide$0.01
- Countywide · countywide$6.10
- Rural Basic · rural$2.75
- Total Rural · rural$8.85
From county budgets and annual financial reports filed with the Department of Management.
School districts
School districts that tax property in Cedar County.
BennettDurantLisbonMidlandNorth CedarTiptonWest BranchWest LibertyWilton
Typical rates are medians across the county’s tax districts, leaving out TIF districts and farmland inside cities. Data from the Iowa Data Hub (Departments of Management and Revenue).