Local taxes › Webster County
Webster County
Property tax rates, local option sales tax and state payments to the county and its cities.
Property tax rates
Typical combined rate per $1,000 of taxable value, and the county government’s own share of it.
| Year | In cities | Rural | County’s rural levy |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY27 | $35.25 | $23.71 | $10.19 |
| FY26 | $35.60 | $23.90 | $10.79 |
| FY25 | $44.47 | $22.52 | $10.07 |
| FY24 | $33.71 | $22.73 | $10.20 |
| FY23 | $43.76 | $21.99 | $9.72 |
| FY22 | $44.22 | $22.39 | $9.83 |
| FY21 | $44.32 | $22.71 | $9.65 |
| FY20 | $44.55 | $22.86 | $9.50 |
Cities, FY27
| City | Typical rate | Since FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Badger | $36.61 | +3.9% |
| Barnum | $28.67 | +5.3% |
| Callender | $36.01 | +0.2% |
| Clare | $28.52 | +0.7% |
| Dayton | $25.13 | -31.2% |
| Duncombe | $37.55 | +13.6% |
| Farnhamville | $27.41 | +9.9% |
| Fort Dodge | $45.33 | +2.5% |
| Gowrie | $22.46 | -34.4% |
| Harcourt | $31.43 | +14.1% |
| Lehigh | $31.20 | -3.0% |
| Moorland | $26.84 | +1.5% |
| Otho | $38.75 | +2.5% |
| Stratford | $35.09 | +8.6% |
| Vincent | $29.34 | -6.4% |
Taxable value
$2.47B in 2025 valuations, +15.5% since 2020. By kind of property:
- Homes36%
- Farmland and farm buildings24%
- Commercial16%
- Industrial12%
- Utilities and railroads12%
- Other0%
Local option sales tax collected
| FY24 | FY23 | FY22 | FY21 | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8.5M | $7.6M | $7.8M | $7.6M | $6.9M | $6.6M | $6.3M | $6.3M |
State payments to the county and its cities
| Program | FY27 | FY26 | FY25 | FY24 | FY23 | FY22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local option sales tax | $685,237 | $8.7M | $8.3M | $8.5M | $8.2M | $8.2M |
| Homestead property tax credit | – | $1.9M | $1.8M | $1.8M | $1.7M | $1.7M |
| Ag land and family farm tax credits | $317,909 | $371,549 | $374,522 | $434,477 | $439,026 | $481,997 |
| Business property tax credit | – | – | $2.0M | $2.2M | $1.9M | $1.7M |
| Elderly and disabled property tax credit | – | $63,921 | $70,616 | $85,712 | $81,068 | $89,324 |
| Military service property tax credit | – | – | – | $18,208 | $19,503 | $20,331 |
Who received them, FY26
- City of Fort Dodge$5.3M
- Webster County$4.7M
- City of Gowrie$193,940
- City of Dayton$156,886
- City of Badger$101,783
- City of Lehigh$84,495
- City of Otho$81,431
- City of Duncombe$75,003
- City of Callender$70,209
- City of Harcourt$50,159
- City of Moorland$34,399
- City of Barnum$33,754
- City of Vincent$30,620
- City of Clare$29,732
The county’s budget
Webster County plans to spend $51.2M in FY27, from property taxes, state and federal money, fees and its reserves. It spent $42.0M in FY25.
- Roads & transportation$13.0M
- Public safety & legal services$12.3M
- Capital projects$9.7M
- Administration$4.2M
- Debt payments$3.9M
- Physical health & social services$3.7M
- Parks, libraries, extension & environment$3.2M
- Services to residents (records, elections, licenses)$1.2M
- Other$10,000
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$3.62
- General Supplemental · countywide$2.05
- 422D EMS · countywide$0.67
- Debt Service · countywide$0.33
- Countywide · countywide$6.66
- Rural Basic · rural$3.53
- Total Rural · rural$10.19
From county budgets and annual financial reports filed with the Department of Management.
School districts
School districts that tax property in Webster County.
Eagle GroveFort DodgeGilmore City-BradgateHumboldtManson Northwest WebsterPrairie ValleySoutheast Webster-GrandStratfordWebster City
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).