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Local taxes › Humboldt County

County

Humboldt County

12 cities · 7 school districts · How counties work

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$2,680 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home in a typical town here, FY27 (a rate of $31.77 per $1,000 of taxable value)1
$2,090 a yearon a $200,000 home in the countryside, FY27 ($24.87 per $1,000)
$14.9Mcounty budget, FY27
$998.2Mtaxable value, 2025 valuations (+24.2% in 5 years)

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.

In citiesRuralCounty levy
0$10$20$30$40’20’22’24’26’27In citiesRuralCounty levy
0$10$20$30$40’20’21’22’23’24’25’26’27In citiesRuralCounty levy
Show the numbers
YearIn citiesRuralCounty’s rural levy
FY27$31.77$24.87$9.46
FY26$31.37$25.81$9.93
FY25$36.10$26.46$10.57
FY24$31.01$26.06$10.06
FY23$36.11$25.85$10.03
FY22$34.06$25.55$9.98
FY21$36.88$25.03$9.59
FY20$36.46$25.12$9.78

Rates by city, FY27

Typical combined rate in each city, per $1,000 of taxable value.

Show the numbers
CityTypical rateSince FY22
Bode$28.26-4.7%
Bradgate$30.05+2.0%
Dakota City$32.36+2.2%
Gilmore City$34.29-3.4%
Hardy$25.33-4.9%
Humboldt$36.96+0.1%
Livermore$31.40+2.0%
Lu Verne$33.10+13.1%
Ottosen$26.72-10.8%
Renwick$32.13-1.6%
Rutland$30.61+1.1%
Thor$30.11-6.3%

Compared with places this size2

Humboldt County’s countywide property tax rate of $5.74 per $1,000 is the 18th lowest of 41 Iowa counties with 6,500–14,000 people. The middle of the group is $5.79.

Decatur County: $9.59Winnebago County: $8.49Montgomery County: $8.08Clarke County: $7.88Louisa County: $7.80Union County: $7.65Davis County: $7.37Wright County: $6.87Greene County: $6.83Fremont County: $6.79Howard County: $6.54Wayne County: $6.47Allamakee County: $6.45Pocahontas County: $6.38Sac County: $6.36Shelby County: $6.31Butler County: $6.28Worth County: $6.25Guthrie County: $6.24Emmet County: $6.16Kossuth County: $5.79Monroe County: $5.79Calhoun County: $5.75Keokuk County: $5.64Mitchell County: $5.64Monona County: $5.63Lucas County: $5.40Van Buren County: $5.29Grundy County: $5.20Chickasaw County: $5.13Franklin County: $5.11Adair County: $5.09Appanoose County: $5.06Ida County: $4.82Cass County: $4.75Palo Alto County: $4.48Hancock County: $4.00Lyon County: $3.96Cherokee County: $3.89O'Brien County: $3.59Humboldt County: $5.74$3.59 lowest$9.59 highestmiddle
See all 41
#PlaceRate per $1,000People
1Decatur County$9.597,656
2Winnebago County$8.4910,383
3Montgomery County$8.0810,063
4Clarke County$7.889,524
5Louisa County$7.8010,630
6Union County$7.6511,955
7Davis County$7.379,193
8Wright County$6.8712,729
9Greene County$6.838,662
10Fremont County$6.796,494
11Howard County$6.549,360
12Wayne County$6.476,622
13Allamakee County$6.4514,184
14Pocahontas County$6.387,006
15Sac County$6.369,533
16Shelby County$6.3111,821
17Butler County$6.2814,156
18Worth County$6.257,307
19Guthrie County$6.2410,774
20Emmet County$6.169,162
21Kossuth County$5.7914,408
22Monroe County$5.797,373
23Calhoun County$5.759,711
24Humboldt County$5.749,617
25Keokuk County$5.649,855
26Mitchell County$5.6410,632
27Monona County$5.638,429
28Lucas County$5.408,758
29Van Buren County$5.297,217
30Grundy County$5.2012,405
31Chickasaw County$5.1311,719
32Franklin County$5.1110,024
33Adair County$5.097,431
34Appanoose County$5.0612,106
35Ida County$4.826,810
36Cass County$4.7513,024
37Palo Alto County$4.488,809
38Hancock County$4.0010,616
39Lyon County$3.9612,378
40Cherokee County$3.8911,658
41O'Brien County$3.5914,260

What’s taxed

$998.2M of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +24.2% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:

  • Farmland and farm buildings$457.0M44%
  • Homes$315.8M30%
  • Commercial$142.1M14%
  • Utilities, railroads and other$89.3M9%
  • Industrial$39.4M4%
Show the numbers
Valuation yearHomesFarmlandCommercialIndustrialTotal
2025$315.8M$457.0M$142.1M$39.4M$998.2M
2024$321.9M$412.5M$134.6M$39.5M$954.8M
2023$312.7M$400.9M$131.3M$39.2M$929.0M
2022$310.7M$352.2M$119.0M$36.5M$865.2M
2021$277.7M$340.9M$131.2M$39.4M$836.1M
2020$264.9M$343.7M$110.7M$38.3M$803.6M
2019$256.0M$332.7M$107.3M$37.7M$780.4M
2018$228.9M$325.5M$98.2M$36.9M$735.0M

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of the county’s budget goes, FY27

Roads & transportation: 35¢ of every dollar35¢Public safety & legal services: 30¢ of every dollar30¢Administration: 13¢ of every dollar13¢Parks, libraries, extension & environment: 7¢ of every dollarCapital projects: 6¢ of every dollarEverything else: 9¢ of every dollar9¢$1$1
Where it goesOf each dollarCounties this size (40)
Roads & transportation35¢35¢
Public safety & legal services30¢20¢
Administration13¢11¢
Parks, libraries, extension & environment7¢6¢
Capital projects6¢13¢
Everything else9¢14¢

Planned spending from all funds. “Counties this size” is the average for the 40 counties closest in size (6,500–14,000 people).

The county’s budget

Humboldt County plans to spend $14.9M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $14.5M in FY25.

  • Roads & transportation$5.3M35%
  • Public safety & legal services$4.5M30%
  • Administration$1.9M13%
  • Parks, libraries, extension & environment$1.1M7%
  • Capital projects$895,0006%
  • Services to residents (records, elections, licenses)$538,4604%
  • Physical health & social services$474,3313%
  • Debt payments$312,5112%
  • Other$5,0000%

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$3.90
  • General Supplemental · countywide$1.53
  • Debt Service · countywide$0.30
  • Countywide · countywide$5.74
  • Rural Basic · rural$3.72
  • Total Rural · rural$9.46

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.

$1.6M
’14’16’18’20’22’24
Show the numbers
YearCollected
FY24$1.6M
FY23$1.4M
FY22$1.5M
FY21$1.6M
FY20$1.4M
FY19$1.3M
FY18$1.2M
FY17$1.2M
FY16$1.1M
FY15$1.2M
FY14$1.1M

State payments to the county and its cities

Sales tax collected for them and property tax credits paid on residents’ behalf: $2.4M in FY26. The newest year may be partial.

$3.1M
$365,034
’20’21’22’23’24’25’26’27
Who received them, FY26
  • Humboldt County$1.4M59%
  • City of Humboldt$717,38230%
  • City of Dakota City$109,3375%
  • City of Livermore$56,5402%
  • City of Bode$43,7442%
  • City of Thor$25,7061%
  • City of Rutland$16,2161%
  • City of Bradgate$11,0150%
  • City of Hardy$8,6020%
  • City of Ottosen$6,5080%
Show the numbers
ProgramFY27FY26FY25FY24FY23FY22FY21FY20
Local option sales tax$105,836$1.6M$1.6M$1.6M$1.4M$1.5M$943,575$809,706
Homestead property tax credit–$447,837$455,767$415,563$424,539$415,770$402,819$410,617
Ag land and family farm tax credits$259,197$373,012$364,726$363,510$391,263$388,208$332,471$333,178
Business property tax credit––$657,514$709,762$682,070$625,884$636,624$616,423
Elderly and disabled property tax credit–$11,544$10,002$10,492$11,638$11,526$12,756$12,714
Military service property tax credit–––$5,398$5,913$6,109$6,563$6,842

Elections

Most recent: November 3, 2026

County offices · 8
Humboldt County Attorney · 0% reporting
Humboldt County Recorder · 0% reporting
Townships · 16

    No candidates listed.

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                    Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Humboldt County; official results are on each county auditor’s site.

                    Places in the county

                    At the Statehouse and in Congress3

                    Dennis Guth (Sen. 28)Mark I. Thompson (Rep. 56)

                    U.S. House:District 4

                    Cities

                    BodeBradgateDakota CityGilmore CityHardyHumboldtLivermoreLu VerneOttosenRenwickRutlandThor

                    School districts

                    Clarion-GoldfieldEagle GroveGilmore City-BradgateHumboldtLu VerneTwin RiversWest Bend-Mallard