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 | $32.56 | $22.43 | $9.24 |
| FY26 | $31.01 | $22.30 | $9.34 |
| FY25 | $31.27 | $21.73 | $8.56 |
| FY24 | $33.11 | $21.83 | $8.96 |
| FY23 | $29.48 | $21.37 | $8.67 |
| FY22 | $30.92 | $21.75 | $9.08 |
| FY21 | $31.09 | $22.07 | $9.29 |
| FY20 | $33.08 | $22.09 | $9.25 |
Rates by city, FY27
Typical combined rate in each city, per $1,000 of taxable value.
Show the numbers
| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Ashton | $38.26 | +8.2% |
| Harris | $43.05 | +30.4% |
| Melvin | $25.51 | +2.0% |
| Ocheyedan | $32.56 | +5.3% |
| Sibley | $38.12 | +13.3% |
Compared with places this size2
Osceola County’s countywide property tax rate of $5.56 per $1,000 is the 6th lowest of 17 Iowa counties with 4,600–8,800 people. The middle of the group is $5.85.
See all 17
| # | Place | Rate per $1,000 | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decatur County | $9.59 | 7,656 |
| 2 | Taylor County | $9.31 | 5,825 |
| 3 | Ringgold County | $7.15 | 4,608 |
| 4 | Greene County | $6.83 | 8,662 |
| 5 | Fremont County | $6.79 | 6,494 |
| 6 | Wayne County | $6.47 | 6,622 |
| 7 | Pocahontas County | $6.38 | 7,006 |
| 8 | Worth County | $6.25 | 7,307 |
| 9 | Audubon County | $5.85 | 5,562 |
| 10 | Monroe County | $5.79 | 7,373 |
| 11 | Monona County | $5.63 | 8,429 |
| 12 | Osceola County | $5.56 | 6,036 |
| 13 | Lucas County | $5.40 | 8,758 |
| 14 | Van Buren County | $5.29 | 7,217 |
| 15 | Adair County | $5.09 | 7,431 |
| 16 | Ida County | $4.82 | 6,810 |
| 17 | Palo Alto County | $4.48 | 8,809 |
What’s taxed
$729.1M of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +14.7% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:
- Farmland and farm buildings$397.3M53%
- Homes$158.3M21%
- Industrial$87.1M12%
- Commercial$63.6M9%
- Utilities, railroads and other$38.5M5%
Show the numbers
| Valuation year | Homes | Farmland | Commercial | Industrial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $158.3M | $397.3M | $63.6M | $87.1M | $729.1M |
| 2024 | $156.0M | $379.9M | $58.8M | $85.0M | $701.7M |
| 2023 | $150.6M | $368.6M | $57.9M | $86.0M | $686.3M |
| 2022 | $133.6M | $345.4M | $47.7M | $88.2M | $639.8M |
| 2021 | $129.5M | $335.2M | $52.6M | $90.7M | $632.1M |
| 2020 | $119.8M | $354.3M | $47.9M | $90.7M | $635.9M |
| 2019 | $115.9M | $341.2M | $46.0M | $89.5M | $615.4M |
| 2018 | $107.9M | $330.6M | $46.6M | $78.8M | $585.0M |
Budget and spending
Where each dollar of the county’s budget goes, FY27
| Where it goes | Of each dollar | Counties this size (16) |
|---|---|---|
| Roads & transportation | 35¢ | 37¢ |
| Capital projects | 19¢ | 13¢ |
| Public safety & legal services | 16¢ | 18¢ |
| Administration | 15¢ | 11¢ |
| Parks, libraries, extension & environment | 5¢ | 5¢ |
| Everything else | 10¢ | 15¢ |
Planned spending from all funds. “Counties this size” is the average for the 16 counties closest in size (4,600–8,800 people).
The county’s budget
Osceola County plans to spend $14.0M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $13.5M 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$3.43
- General Supplemental · countywide$1.15
- Debt Service · countywide$0.55
- 422D EMS · countywide$0.43
- Countywide · countywide$5.56
- Rural Basic · rural$2.77
- Unified Law Enforcement · rural$0.90
- Total Rural · rural$9.24
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 | $653,817 |
| FY23 | $571,603 |
| FY22 | $539,943 |
| FY21 | $493,288 |
| FY20 | $457,753 |
| FY19 | $417,532 |
| FY18 | $457,351 |
| FY17 | $464,864 |
| FY16 | $370,465 |
| FY15 | $422,733 |
| FY14 | $516,345 |
State payments to the county and its cities
Sales tax collected for them and property tax credits paid on residents’ behalf: $1.3M 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 | $46,804 | $640,136 | $604,586 | $653,817 | $627,857 | $550,014 | $491,514 | $385,290 |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $322,743 | $309,615 | $295,459 | $282,840 | $285,995 | $295,880 | $318,129 |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $181,693 | $314,810 | $330,566 | $308,874 | $335,921 | $321,793 | $331,675 | $343,269 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $315,332 | $320,287 | $306,379 | $290,868 | $298,391 | $306,443 |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $6,970 | $7,748 | $9,502 | $8,062 | $8,140 | $8,900 | $7,174 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $3,673 | $3,927 | $4,209 | $4,448 | $5,310 |
Elections
Most recent: November 3, 2026
County offices · 7
- Tanya Dykstra Unopposed
- Dawn Wilson RUnopposed
- Dale Wolter RUnopposed
- Sheila M. Christians RUnopposed
- Becky S. Marco RUnopposed
Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Osceola County; official results are on each county auditor’s site.
Places in the county
School districts
GeorgeHarris-Lake ParkHartley-Melvin-SanbornSheldonSibley OcheyedenSibley-Ocheyedan