Local taxes › Lee County
Lee County
Where property taxes go, how rates have changed, what the county spends, and what the state sends it.
Where a property tax dollar goes in Fort Madison
The combined rate in most of Fort Madison is $43.27 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). Each government sets its own piece. Your exact split depends on your school district and any special districts: estimate your bill.
- Lee County$9.5922%
- City of Fort Madison$18.8444%
- Fort Madison schools$12.6029%
- Everyone else$2.245%
“Everyone else” is the community college, the assessor, county extension, any hospital district and similar.
Property tax rates over time
Typical combined rate per $1,000 of taxable value, and the county government’s own rural levy (part of the rural rate).
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| Year | In cities | Rural | County’s rural levy |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY27 | $43.27 | $26.42 | $11.77 |
| FY26 | $42.42 | $26.79 | $12.37 |
| FY25 | $42.81 | $27.16 | $12.95 |
| FY24 | $42.09 | $27.78 | $13.53 |
| FY23 | $36.10 | $24.07 | $10.32 |
| FY22 | $36.34 | $24.49 | $10.26 |
| FY21 | $37.84 | $25.50 | $10.67 |
| FY20 | $37.78 | $25.42 | $10.39 |
Cities, FY27
Typical combined rate in each city, per $1,000 of taxable value.
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| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Donnellson | $36.44 | +16.1% |
| Fort Madison | $43.27 | +17.4% |
| Franklin | $30.12 | +4.4% |
| Houghton | $31.16 | +7.5% |
| Keokuk | $48.59 | +11.1% |
| Montrose | $35.58 | +6.5% |
| Saint Paul | $26.51 | +10.7% |
| West Point | $36.82 | +24.9% |
What’s taxed
$1.76B of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +17.5% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:
- Homes$959.8M49%
- Farmland and farm buildings$295.5M15%
- Commercial$226.2M12%
- Industrial$131.8M7%
- Utilities, railroads and other$334.1M17%
Taxable value over time
Show the numbers
| Valuation year | Homes | Farmland | Commercial | Industrial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $959.8M | $295.5M | $226.2M | $131.8M | $1.76B |
| 2024 | $875.4M | $298.2M | $189.2M | $124.8M | $1.63B |
| 2023 | $848.6M | $290.9M | $184.8M | $126.4M | $1.60B |
| 2022 | $788.5M | $279.4M | $170.3M | $120.8M | $1.52B |
| 2021 | $751.4M | $271.6M | $204.9M | $151.6M | $1.53B |
| 2020 | $748.1M | $241.5M | $196.9M | $152.0M | $1.49B |
| 2019 | $724.6M | $234.2M | $198.9M | $153.9M | $1.46B |
| 2018 | $692.5M | $204.8M | $194.6M | $163.1M | $1.38B |
The county’s budget
Lee County plans to spend $41.8M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $39.5M 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$5.62
- General Supplemental · countywide$2.67
- 422D EMS · countywide$0.73
- Debt Service · countywide$0.55
- Pioneer Cemetery · countywide$0.02
- Countywide · countywide$9.59
- Rural Basic · rural$2.18
- Total Rural · rural$11.77
From county budgets and annual financial reports filed with the Department of Management.
Local option sales tax collected
The extra local sales tax voters here approved, collected by the state and paid back to the county and its cities.
Show the numbers
| Year | Collected |
|---|---|
| FY24 | $5.5M |
| FY23 | $4.5M |
| FY22 | $4.8M |
| FY21 | $5.2M |
| FY20 | $4.8M |
| FY19 | $4.3M |
| FY18 | $4.2M |
| FY17 | $4.8M |
| FY16 | $4.9M |
| FY15 | $4.9M |
| FY14 | $4.7M |
State payments to the county and its cities
Local option sales tax the state collected for them, and property tax credits it pays on residents’ behalf. 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 | $430,906 | $5.7M | $5.4M | $5.5M | $4.5M | $4.9M | $5.6M | $4.3M |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $1.9M | $1.8M | $1.8M | $1.5M | $1.5M | $1.6M | $1.6M |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $213,198 | $282,560 | $299,093 | $279,833 | $251,284 | $264,518 | $308,567 | $370,946 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $1.7M | $1.9M | $1.4M | $1.4M | $1.4M | $1.5M |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $27,443 | $18,568 | $46,112 | $54,862 | $58,894 | $59,220 | $53,772 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $20,679 | $21,294 | $22,409 | $23,704 | $24,715 |
School districts
School districts that tax property in Lee County.
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).