Who runs it
The Board of Supervisors sets the county budget and its property tax; the other officers run elections, records, taxes and law enforcement.
No officials known yet.
Meetings and agendas
What the Board of Supervisors is deciding: each agenda, the resolutions and ordinances on it, and a plain-language summary.
Property taxes
Rates over time
Typical combined rate per $1,000 of taxable value, and the county government’s own rural levy.
Show the numbers
| Year | In cities | Rural | County’s rural levy |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY27 | $35.04 | $24.90 | $10.16 |
| FY26 | $35.32 | $25.07 | $10.12 |
| FY25 | $35.50 | $24.92 | $9.99 |
| FY24 | $36.26 | $25.42 | $9.70 |
| FY23 | $34.11 | $24.61 | $9.09 |
| FY22 | $34.67 | $24.43 | $9.00 |
| FY21 | $35.15 | $24.62 | $9.20 |
| FY20 | $34.42 | $24.51 | $9.07 |
Rates by city, FY27
Typical combined rate in each city, per $1,000 of taxable value.
Show the numbers
| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Clayton | $24.86 | +0.1% |
| Edgewood | $37.07 | +12.7% |
| Elkader | $49.38 | +20.4% |
| Elkport | $30.19 | +4.5% |
| Farmersburg | $34.07 | -1.9% |
| Garber | $29.44 | +2.5% |
| Garnavillo | $34.63 | +2.9% |
| Guttenberg | $35.04 | +1.1% |
| Luana | $29.00 | -5.5% |
| Marquette | $28.06 | -2.9% |
| Mcgregor | $35.18 | -2.7% |
| Monona | $37.42 | +2.1% |
| North Buena Vista | $21.47 | +1.7% |
| Osterdock | $22.07 | +1.3% |
| Postville | $37.63 | +2.1% |
| Saint Olaf | $42.05 | +20.0% |
| Strawberry Point | $37.33 | +9.1% |
| Volga | $42.31 | +15.3% |
Compared with places this size
Clayton County’s countywide property tax rate of $6.89 per $1,000 is the 11th highest of 41 Iowa counties with 12,000–25,000 people. The middle of the group is $6.03.
See all 41
| # | Place | Rate per $1,000 | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington County | $9.68 | 22,631 |
| 2 | Henry County | $9.19 | 19,361 |
| 3 | Hardin County | $8.26 | 16,464 |
| 4 | Tama County | $8.20 | 16,738 |
| 5 | Union County | $7.65 | 11,955 |
| 6 | Winneshiek County | $7.36 | 19,723 |
| 7 | Buena Vista County | $7.36 | 20,816 |
| 8 | Page County | $7.34 | 15,038 |
| 9 | Iowa County | $7.29 | 16,423 |
| 10 | Jefferson County | $6.97 | 15,781 |
| 11 | Clayton County | $6.89 | 16,931 |
| 12 | Wright County | $6.87 | 12,729 |
| 13 | Buchanan County | $6.80 | 20,733 |
| 14 | Harrison County | $6.69 | 14,626 |
| 15 | Allamakee County | $6.45 | 14,184 |
| 16 | Shelby County | $6.31 | 11,821 |
| 17 | Butler County | $6.28 | 14,156 |
| 18 | Jones County | $6.20 | 21,116 |
| 19 | Floyd County | $6.16 | 15,008 |
| 20 | Cedar County | $6.10 | 18,231 |
| 21 | Hamilton County | $6.03 | 14,856 |
| 22 | Clay County | $5.97 | 16,474 |
| 23 | Mills County | $5.90 | 14,717 |
| 24 | Fayette County | $5.83 | 19,152 |
| 25 | Delaware County | $5.79 | 17,609 |
| 26 | Kossuth County | $5.79 | 14,408 |
| 27 | Bremer County | $5.32 | 25,328 |
| 28 | Jackson County | $5.28 | 19,390 |
| 29 | Grundy County | $5.20 | 12,405 |
| 30 | Chickasaw County | $5.13 | 11,719 |
| 31 | Appanoose County | $5.06 | 12,106 |
| 32 | Crawford County | $4.90 | 16,378 |
| 33 | Cass County | $4.75 | 13,024 |
| 34 | Madison County | $4.70 | 17,161 |
| 35 | Lyon County | $3.96 | 12,378 |
| 36 | Mahaska County | $3.95 | 22,034 |
| 37 | Carroll County | $3.90 | 20,407 |
| 38 | Cherokee County | $3.89 | 11,658 |
| 39 | Poweshiek County | $3.86 | 18,454 |
| 40 | O'Brien County | $3.59 | 14,260 |
| 41 | Dickinson County | $1.90 | 18,158 |
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.
What’s taxed
$1.30B of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +12.8% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:
- Homes$702.2M52%
- Farmland and farm buildings$435.5M33%
- Commercial$114.9M9%
- Utilities, railroads and other$51.1M4%
- Industrial$34.2M3%
Show the numbers
| Valuation year | Homes | Farmland | Commercial | Industrial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $702.2M | $435.5M | $114.9M | $34.2M | $1.30B |
| 2024 | $624.4M | $442.0M | $106.0M | $33.9M | $1.21B |
| 2023 | $598.9M | $429.8M | $102.8M | $30.6M | $1.18B |
| 2022 | $576.6M | $451.1M | $96.9M | $29.9M | $1.18B |
| 2021 | $547.6M | $438.4M | $119.6M | $51.4M | $1.18B |
| 2020 | $540.1M | $446.0M | $98.8M | $44.4M | $1.15B |
| 2019 | $522.5M | $432.0M | $96.1M | $45.1M | $1.12B |
| 2018 | $518.5M | $425.4M | $93.6M | $46.4M | $1.11B |
Budget and spending
Where each dollar of the county’s budget goes, FY27
| Where it goes | Of each dollar | Counties this size (40) |
|---|---|---|
| Roads & transportation | 31¢ | 33¢ |
| Capital projects | 25¢ | 12¢ |
| Public safety & legal services | 17¢ | 23¢ |
| Administration | 10¢ | 11¢ |
| Parks, libraries, extension & environment | 7¢ | 7¢ |
| Everything else | 10¢ | 13¢ |
Planned spending from all funds. “Counties this size” is the average for the 40 counties closest in size (12,000–25,000 people).
The county’s budget
Clayton County plans to spend $27.9M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $22.9M in FY25.
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$3.92
- General Supplemental · countywide$2.33
- Debt Service · countywide$0.64
- Pioneer Cemetery · countywide$0.00
- Countywide · countywide$6.89
- Rural Basic · rural$3.16
- Rural Supplemental · rural$0.11
- Total Rural · rural$10.16
From county budgets and annual financial reports filed with the Department of Management.
Sales tax and state money
Local option sales tax collected
The extra local sales tax voters approved, collected by the state and paid back to the county and its cities.
Show the numbers
| Year | Collected |
|---|---|
| FY24 | $2.8M |
| FY23 | $2.7M |
| FY22 | $2.6M |
| FY21 | $2.6M |
| FY20 | $2.3M |
| FY19 | $2.1M |
| FY18 | $2.0M |
| FY17 | $1.8M |
| FY16 | $1.8M |
| FY15 | $1.8M |
| FY14 | $1.7M |
State payments to the county and its cities
Sales tax collected for them and property tax credits paid on residents’ behalf: $4.3M in FY26. The newest year may be partial.
Who received them, FY26
Show the numbers
| Program | FY27 | FY26 | FY25 | FY24 | FY23 | FY22 | FY21 | FY20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local option sales tax | $241,685 | $2.9M | $2.7M | $2.7M | $2.8M | $2.7M | $2.4M | $1.9M |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $888,271 | $846,543 | $825,435 | $790,014 | $789,985 | $795,409 | $764,281 |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $345,252 | $461,428 | $536,360 | $546,370 | $599,664 | $566,389 | $530,344 | $515,979 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $1.0M | $1.0M | $949,170 | $813,664 | $817,576 | $786,838 |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $26,020 | $29,926 | $31,028 | $33,512 | $32,680 | $32,010 | $36,914 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $11,128 | $11,589 | $12,256 | $12,923 | $13,290 |
Elections
Most recent: November 3, 2026
County offices · 6
- Zach Herrmann RUnopposed
- Josie Fettkether RUnopposed
- Linda Zuercher RUnopposed
Townships · 3
- Terri E. Gould Unopposed
Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Clayton County; official results are on each county auditor’s site.
Places in the county
At the Statehouse and in Congress
Mike Klimesh (Sen. 32)Jason Gearhart (Rep. 64)
U.S. House:District 2
Districts that cover Clayton County; percentages are rough shares of its area. They write the state laws and budget Clayton County works within.
Cities
ClaytonEdgewoodElkaderElkportFarmersburgGarberGarnavilloGuttenbergLuanaMarquetteMcgregorMononaNorth Buena VistaOsterdockPostvilleSaint OlafStrawberry PointVolga
School districts
Typical rates are medians across the county’s tax districts, leaving out TIF districts and farmland inside cities. Budgets from the Department of Management; values and sales tax from the Department of Revenue.