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Local taxes › Pocahontas County

County

Pocahontas County

9 cities · 7 school districts · How counties work

$3,250 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home in a typical town here, FY27 (a rate of $38.57 per $1,000 of taxable value)1
$1,860 a yearon a $200,000 home in the countryside, FY27 ($22.08 per $1,000)
$18.8Mcounty budget, FY27
$1.07Btaxable value, 2025 valuations (+23.9% 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.

  • IncomingAmy JohnsonPocahontas County Treasurer · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingAndrew FrerkPocahontas County Agricultural Extension Council · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingBrent AdenPocahontas County Board of Supervisors District 4 · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingBrian HoffmanPocahontas County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingCatherine FrerkPocahontas County Recorder · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingClarence SiepkerPocahontas County Board of Supervisors District 2 · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingCody PetersonPocahontas County Agricultural Extension Council · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingHannah ZylstraPocahontas County Agricultural Extension Council · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingLola DeWallPocahontas County Agricultural Extension Council · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingRonald LampePocahontas County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027
  • IncomingSheila AkridgePocahontas County Agricultural Extension Council · elected November 3, 2026, takes office in January 2027

Officials are worked out from election results: every member whose four-year term is still running, plus appointments and titles Iowa Funnel has been told about. A resignation may not show yet.

Meetings and agendas

What the Board of Supervisors is deciding: each agenda, the resolutions and ordinances on it, and a plain-language summary.

Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, March 10, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, March 3, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, February 24, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Show 5 more meetings
Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, February 17, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, February 10, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Board of Supervisors · Wednesday, February 4, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, February 3, 2026Agenda (PDF)
Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, January 27, 2026Agenda (PDF)

Property taxes

How the bill is collected · What each levy is for

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$38.57$22.08$9.45
FY26$36.24$22.46$9.59
FY25$36.63$22.18$9.61
FY24$34.19$21.52$9.12
FY23$36.26$22.37$8.20
FY22$35.12$23.20$8.57
FY21$34.18$22.74$8.81
FY20$37.40$22.51$8.87

Rates by city, FY27

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

CityTypical rateSince FY22
Fonda$40.59+2.1%
Gilmore City$33.77-0.1%
Havelock$28.73-7.5%
Laurens$43.73+10.5%
Palmer$31.67-4.6%
Plover$28.88-4.4%
Pocahontas$38.57+9.8%
Rolfe$40.45+4.1%
Varina$41.17+13.3%
Show the numbers
CityTypical rateSince FY22
Fonda$40.59+2.1%
Gilmore City$33.77-0.1%
Havelock$28.73-7.5%
Laurens$43.73+10.5%
Palmer$31.67-4.6%
Plover$28.88-4.4%
Pocahontas$38.57+9.8%
Rolfe$40.45+4.1%
Varina$41.17+13.3%

Compared with places this size2

Pocahontas County’s countywide property tax rate of $6.38 per $1,000 is the 11th highest of 27 Iowa counties with 5,600–10,000 people. The middle of the group is $6.16.

Decatur County: $9.59Taylor County: $9.31Winnebago County: $8.49Montgomery County: $8.08Clarke County: $7.88Davis County: $7.37Greene County: $6.83Fremont County: $6.79Howard County: $6.54Wayne County: $6.47Sac County: $6.36Worth County: $6.25Emmet County: $6.16Audubon County: $5.85Monroe County: $5.79Calhoun County: $5.75Humboldt County: $5.74Keokuk County: $5.64Monona County: $5.63Osceola County: $5.56Lucas County: $5.40Van Buren County: $5.29Franklin County: $5.11Adair County: $5.09Ida County: $4.82Palo Alto County: $4.48Pocahontas County: $6.38$4.48 lowest$9.59 highestmiddle
See all 27
#PlaceRate per $1,000People
1Decatur County$9.597,656
2Taylor County$9.315,825
3Winnebago County$8.4910,383
4Montgomery County$8.0810,063
5Clarke County$7.889,524
6Davis County$7.379,193
7Greene County$6.838,662
8Fremont County$6.796,494
9Howard County$6.549,360
10Wayne County$6.476,622
11Pocahontas County$6.387,006
12Sac County$6.369,533
13Worth County$6.257,307
14Emmet County$6.169,162
15Audubon County$5.855,562
16Monroe County$5.797,373
17Calhoun County$5.759,711
18Humboldt County$5.749,617
19Keokuk County$5.649,855
20Monona County$5.638,429
21Osceola County$5.566,036
22Lucas County$5.408,758
23Van Buren County$5.297,217
24Franklin County$5.1110,024
25Adair County$5.097,431
26Ida County$4.826,810
27Palo Alto County$4.488,809

What’s taxed

$1.07B of taxable value in 2025 valuations, +23.9% since 2020. Who carries the load, by kind of property:

  • Farmland and farm buildings$613.1M56%
  • Industrial$174.2M16%
  • Homes$163.6M15%
  • Utilities, railroads and other$70.4M6%
  • Commercial$69.6M6%
Show the numbers
Valuation yearHomesFarmlandCommercialIndustrialTotal
2025$163.6M$613.1M$69.6M$174.2M$1.07B
2024$149.8M$543.3M$60.6M$174.2M$972.2M
2023$144.7M$529.1M$50.5M$174.0M$943.0M
2022$135.0M$502.6M$54.9M$174.2M$913.3M
2021$130.9M$487.9M$62.6M$181.4M$908.6M
2020$120.7M$459.0M$55.1M$181.0M$860.5M
2019$117.0M$444.7M$54.5M$181.5M$842.7M
2018$105.8M$446.6M$52.5M$174.9M$823.1M

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

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

Roads & transportation: 37¢ of every dollar37¢Public safety & legal services: 17¢ of every dollar17¢Administration: 15¢ of every dollar15¢Capital projects: 9¢ of every dollar9¢Physical health & social services: 9¢ of every dollar9¢Everything else: 14¢ of every dollar14¢

Planned spending from all funds. “Counties this size” is the average for the 26 counties closest in size (5,600–10,000 people).

Where it goesOf each dollarCounties this size (26)
Roads & transportation37¢36¢
Public safety & legal services17¢20¢
Administration15¢12¢
Capital projects9¢12¢
Physical health & social services9¢5¢
Everything else14¢15¢

The county’s budget

Pocahontas County plans to spend $18.8M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $22.8M in FY25.

  • Roads & transportation$6.9M37%
  • Public safety & legal services$3.2M17%
  • Administration$2.8M15%
  • Capital projects$1.8M9%
  • Physical health & social services$1.7M9%
  • Parks, libraries, extension & environment$1.4M7%
  • Debt payments$623,5503%
  • Services to residents (records, elections, licenses)$552,7723%
  • Other$14,2000%

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$3.40
  • General Supplemental · countywide$2.09
  • Debt Service · countywide$0.68
  • 422D EMS · countywide$0.21
  • Pioneer Cemetery · countywide$0.00
  • Countywide · countywide$6.38
  • Rural Basic · rural$3.06
  • Total Rural · rural$9.45

Sales tax and state money

Where else the money comes from · Does state money keep pace?

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.

$1.0M
’14’16’18’20’22’24
YearCollected
FY24$1.0M
FY23$924,898
FY22$922,514
FY21$950,416
FY20$865,868
FY19$755,055
FY18$665,030
FY17$627,186
FY16$623,033
FY15$622,223
FY14$659,147
Show the numbers
YearCollected
FY24$1.0M
FY23$924,898
FY22$922,514
FY21$950,416
FY20$865,868
FY19$755,055
FY18$665,030
FY17$627,186
FY16$623,033
FY15$622,223
FY14$659,147

Property tax credits the state pays

The state pays part of residents’ property tax bills (homestead, ag land and family farm, business, elderly and military credits): $661,612 in FY26, down 8% since FY14 while prices rose 39%, so it buys 34% less. County and city state aid for roads isn’t in the state’s county files yet.

In today's dollarsActual dollars
$500,000$875,000$1.3M$1.6M$2.0M’14’17’20’23’26Today's $Actual
$500,000$875,000$1.3M$1.6M$2.0M’14’16’18’20’22’24’26Today's $Actual
Show the numbers
CreditFY26FY25FY24FY23FY22FY21
Homestead property tax credit$364,192$367,557$349,746$359,132$359,137$359,014
Ag land and family farm tax credits$286,519$300,908$462,280$405,793$291,809$278,235
Business property tax credit–$520,907$557,125$528,039$511,124$510,388
Elderly and disabled property tax credit$10,902$11,930$11,979$14,372$13,362$14,826
Military service property tax credit––$5,526$5,665$6,114$6,530

Who received the state’s payments

Property tax credits and the local option sales tax the state collected and sent back, by recipient: $1.3M in FY26. The newest year may be partial.

  • Pocahontas County$661,61250%
  • City of Pocahontas$239,10118%
  • City of Laurens$160,24612%
  • City of Fonda$79,8016%
  • City of Rolfe$66,1755%
  • City of Gilmore City$65,8095%
  • City of Palmer$17,3321%
  • City of Havelock$16,5251%

Elections

Most recent: November 3, 2026

Ballot measures · 1

Passed Yes 55.3% (1,102) · No 44.7% (889)

Passes with more yes votes than no.

County offices · 6

5 seats: the top 5 win.

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Townships · 33

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

                  Places in the county

                  At the Statehouse and in Congress3

                  Tim Kraayenbrink (Sen. 4)Wendy Larson (Rep. 7)

                  U.S. House:District 4

                  Cities

                  FondaGilmore CityHavelockLaurensPalmerPloverPocahontasRolfeVarina

                  School districts

                  Albert City-TruesdaleGilmore City-BradgateLaurens-MarathonManson Northwest WebsterNewell-FondaPocahontas AreaWest Bend-Mallard