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.
Iowa Funnel doesn’t read this county’s agendas yet. Every council and board posts its agenda at least 24 hours before it meets.
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 | $40.24 | $29.26 | $10.16 |
| FY26 | $42.64 | $29.54 | $10.44 |
| FY25 | $41.13 | $31.53 | $12.74 |
| FY24 | $40.93 | $31.98 | $13.15 |
| FY23 | $39.96 | $31.75 | $12.99 |
| FY22 | $40.62 | $32.94 | $13.93 |
| FY21 | $42.09 | $34.69 | $15.19 |
| FY20 | $48.12 | $39.90 | $16.85 |
Rates by city, FY27
Typical combined rate in each city, per $1,000 of taxable value.
Show the numbers
| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Davis City | $42.18 | +0.8% |
| Decatur City | $39.82 | -2.1% |
| Garden Grove | $47.99 | -7.1% |
| Grand River | $35.60 | -3.5% |
| Lamoni | $46.32 | -9.9% |
| Le Roy | $28.80 | -26.7% |
| Leon | $40.66 | -9.7% |
| Pleasanton | $34.38 | +0.6% |
| Van Wert | $41.14 | +1.4% |
| Weldon | $38.70 | -4.4% |
Compared with places this size
Decatur County’s countywide property tax rate of $9.59 per $1,000 is the 1st highest of 26 Iowa counties with fewer than 10,000 people. The middle of the group is $6.21.
See all 26
| # | Place | Rate per $1,000 | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decatur County | $9.59 | 7,656 |
| 2 | Taylor County | $9.31 | 5,825 |
| 3 | Clarke County | $7.88 | 9,524 |
| 4 | Adams County | $7.54 | 3,606 |
| 5 | Davis County | $7.37 | 9,193 |
| 6 | Ringgold County | $7.15 | 4,608 |
| 7 | Greene County | $6.83 | 8,662 |
| 8 | Fremont County | $6.79 | 6,494 |
| 9 | Howard County | $6.54 | 9,360 |
| 10 | Wayne County | $6.47 | 6,622 |
| 11 | Pocahontas County | $6.38 | 7,006 |
| 12 | Sac County | $6.36 | 9,533 |
| 13 | Worth County | $6.25 | 7,307 |
| 14 | Emmet County | $6.16 | 9,162 |
| 15 | Audubon County | $5.85 | 5,562 |
| 16 | Monroe County | $5.79 | 7,373 |
| 17 | Calhoun County | $5.75 | 9,711 |
| 18 | Humboldt County | $5.74 | 9,617 |
| 19 | Keokuk County | $5.64 | 9,855 |
| 20 | Monona County | $5.63 | 8,429 |
| 21 | Osceola County | $5.56 | 6,036 |
| 22 | Lucas County | $5.40 | 8,758 |
| 23 | Van Buren County | $5.29 | 7,217 |
| 24 | Adair County | $5.09 | 7,431 |
| 25 | Ida County | $4.82 | 6,810 |
| 26 | Palo Alto County | $4.48 | 8,809 |
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
$397.2M of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +27.5% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:
- Homes$191.3M47%
- Farmland and farm buildings$161.0M39%
- Commercial$36.5M9%
- Utilities, railroads and other$16.4M4%
- Industrial$3.5M<1%
Show the numbers
| Valuation year | Homes | Farmland | Commercial | Industrial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $191.3M | $161.0M | $36.5M | $3.5M | $397.2M |
| 2024 | $162.4M | $152.8M | $24.7M | $3.5M | $347.8M |
| 2023 | $155.0M | $148.5M | $24.0M | $4.2M | $337.5M |
| 2022 | $134.3M | $148.8M | $20.7M | $3.7M | $315.6M |
| 2021 | $127.8M | $143.8M | $26.1M | $8.1M | $315.0M |
| 2020 | $131.1M | $136.2M | $25.9M | $9.2M | $311.7M |
| 2019 | $126.1M | $132.1M | $26.9M | $9.4M | $304.3M |
| 2018 | $124.1M | $115.7M | $26.8M | $9.3M | $285.6M |
Budget and spending
Where each dollar of the county’s budget goes, FY27
| Where it goes | Of each dollar | Counties this size (25) |
|---|---|---|
| Roads & transportation | 43¢ | 37¢ |
| Public safety & legal services | 23¢ | 20¢ |
| Administration | 12¢ | 12¢ |
| Parks, libraries, extension & environment | 8¢ | 6¢ |
| Physical health & social services | 7¢ | 5¢ |
| Everything else | 7¢ | 9¢ |
Planned spending from all funds. “Counties this size” is the average for the 25 other counties with fewer than 10,000 people.
The county’s budget
Decatur County plans to spend $10.9M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $9.9M 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$6.26
- General Supplemental · countywide$2.70
- Debt Service · countywide$0.62
- Countywide · countywide$9.59
- Rural Basic · rural$0.57
- 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 | $1.1M |
| FY23 | $902,261 |
| FY22 | $940,192 |
| FY21 | $963,048 |
| FY20 | $745,965 |
| FY19 | $663,494 |
| FY18 | $622,400 |
| FY17 | $598,097 |
| FY16 | $575,658 |
| FY15 | $560,430 |
| FY14 | $539,476 |
State payments to the county and its cities
Sales tax collected for them and property tax credits paid on residents’ behalf: $1.7M 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 | $83,322 | $1.0M | $1.0M | $1.1M | $918,424 | $1.1M | $817,692 | $687,558 |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $430,419 | $420,355 | $403,669 | $403,106 | $409,999 | $414,552 | $451,173 |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $136,627 | $202,790 | $216,792 | $216,569 | $191,655 | $198,623 | $218,728 | $205,504 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $328,740 | $333,016 | $163,053 | $165,801 | $171,687 | $185,961 |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $17,532 | $17,376 | $18,528 | $17,042 | $15,338 | $17,064 | $15,522 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $4,233 | $4,297 | $4,519 | $4,583 | $4,834 |
Elections
Most recent: November 3, 2026
Ballot measures · 2
Failed Yes 40.4% (622) · No 59.6% (917)
Passes with more yes votes than no.
Passed Yes 65.2% (522) · No 34.8% (279)
Passes with more yes votes than no.
County offices · 5
- Steve Fulkerson RUnopposed
- Steve Hofmann Unopposed
- Janet Pierson RUnopposed
Townships · 19
- Bill Salsman Unopposed
- Merlin Bell Unopposed
- Daryn Yoder Unopposed
- Ron Mickelson Unopposed
- Susan M. Griffin Unopposed
- Ty Hunt Unopposed
- Amy Hamilton Unopposed
- Steve Hill Unopposed
- Zach Mendenhall Unopposed
- Michael G. Andrew Unopposed
- Bill Hamaker Unopposed
Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Decatur County; official results are on each county auditor’s site.
Places in the county
At the Statehouse and in Congress
Amy Sinclair (Sen. 12)Sam Wengryn (Rep. 24)
U.S. House:District 3
Districts that cover Decatur County; percentages are rough shares of its area. They write the state laws and budget Decatur County works within.
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.