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.
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 | $30.00 | $21.02 | $6.63 |
| FY26 | $30.11 | $20.83 | $6.73 |
| FY25 | $30.96 | $21.01 | $6.58 |
| FY24 | $30.70 | $20.79 | $6.61 |
| FY23 | $30.05 | $20.78 | $6.54 |
| FY22 | $31.98 | $21.09 | $6.67 |
| FY21 | $31.92 | $21.18 | $7.04 |
| FY20 | $30.86 | $20.68 | $6.67 |
Rates by city, FY27
Typical combined rate in each city, per $1,000 of taxable value.
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| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Archer | $27.77 | +6.9% |
| Calumet | $30.07 | +7.4% |
| Hartley | $31.49 | -5.2% |
| Paullina | $26.93 | -1.9% |
| Primghar | $31.09 | -2.8% |
| Sanborn | $30.00 | -6.2% |
| Sheldon | $34.26 | +4.1% |
| Sutherland | $28.17 | -5.7% |
What’s taxed
$1.76B of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +32.3% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:
- Farmland and farm buildings$658.7M36%
- Homes$482.3M27%
- Industrial$367.4M20%
- Commercial$205.0M11%
- Utilities, railroads and other$101.0M6%
Show the numbers
| Valuation year | Homes | Farmland | Commercial | Industrial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $482.3M | $658.7M | $205.0M | $367.4M | $1.76B |
| 2024 | $427.2M | $637.4M | $191.0M | $361.6M | $1.67B |
| 2023 | $413.3M | $618.1M | $183.8M | $361.4M | $1.63B |
| 2022 | $371.7M | $572.7M | $145.9M | $345.0M | $1.50B |
| 2021 | $356.2M | $553.5M | $161.8M | $308.8M | $1.44B |
| 2020 | $325.4M | $560.3M | $133.7M | $252.7M | $1.33B |
| 2019 | $314.6M | $541.8M | $125.4M | $195.0M | $1.23B |
| 2018 | $310.8M | $517.3M | $119.8M | $141.0M | $1.14B |
Budget and spending
The county’s budget
O'Brien County plans to spend $22.3M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $16.3M 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$3.30
- General Supplemental · countywide$0.29
- Countywide · countywide$3.59
- Rural Basic · rural$3.04
- Total Rural · rural$6.63
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 | $2.6M |
| FY22 | $2.6M |
| FY21 | $2.4M |
| FY20 | $2.2M |
| FY19 | $2.1M |
| FY18 | $2.0M |
| FY17 | $1.9M |
| FY16 | $1.9M |
| FY15 | $1.8M |
| FY14 | $1.5M |
State payments to the county and its cities
Sales tax collected for them and property tax credits paid on residents’ behalf: $3.8M 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 | $272,290 | $2.8M | $2.7M | $2.7M | $2.9M | $2.7M | $2.2M | $2.3M |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $588,952 | $581,882 | $552,580 | $541,058 | $555,057 | $565,141 | $555,777 |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $227,139 | $356,740 | $384,669 | $413,787 | $405,330 | $421,333 | $399,985 | $465,272 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $1.0M | $1.1M | $1.0M | $946,783 | $949,907 | $909,129 |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $11,392 | $13,462 | $16,362 | $15,784 | $14,285 | $18,572 | $19,170 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $7,585 | $8,201 | $8,816 | $9,367 | $9,945 |
Elections
Most recent: November 3, 2026
County offices · 3
- Katie F. Morgan RUnopposed
- Dennis Vanden Hull RUnopposed
- Dan Friedrichsen RUnopposed
Townships · 1
Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for O'Brien County; official results are on each county auditor’s site.
Places in the county
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.