Your Iowa Property Tax Bill Is Going Up — Here's Exactly How Much

Property tax budget hearing statement season is here — and if you flipped that mailer over, stared at confusing percentages, and had no idea what you were looking at, this episode was made for you. Chris Hagenow and ITR Foundation Policy Director Dr. Sarah Curry break down exactly how to read the statement that arrived in the mail: what to focus on (dollar amounts, not the levy rate), what to ignore (the back side full of hypothetical calculations), and where to go for real information. As Sarah puts it simply: if the dollars collected are going up, your taxes are going up. The levy rate simply won't tell you that story — but the dollars will.ITR has built a free property tax calculator at itrlocal.org that cuts through the noise. Enter your assessed value from last year and this year, then the current and proposed levy rates from your statement, and it will tell you exactly how many more — or fewer — dollars you will pay. The calculator doesn't require an accounting degree — it requires knowing two numbers. A companion guide on the website walks you through finding those numbers on your county auditor's site.Sarah also shares takeaways from a recent community visit to Rockwell City, where she walked taxpayers through property tax statements and found real hunger for these tools. If the numbers send you to a public budget hearing, her strategic advice is clear: don't try to argue the details of their budget back at officials — they know more about it than you, and you'll lose that argument. Instead, talk about your own budget. Your mortgage, your medical bills, your family's reality. They cannot argue against your lived experience. That philosophy runs parallel to what's moving at the Iowa Capitol: a proposal to cap local government property tax growth at 2% per year. Sarah previews the 2026 ITR Local Government Symposium. New this year are dedicated breakout sessions for city and county officials, school board members, and community advocates, with a 30-year school finance veteran leading the school session and a legal update from Alan Ostergren. The ITR Tax Day Luncheon is coming up April 1st — register now at taxrelief.org.00:00 Welcome & Intro01:39 Icebreaker: Women's Pro Tackle Football03:34 Reading Your Property Tax Statement07:38 The itrlocal.org Tax Calculator12:25 Taxpayer Questions Across Iowa15:41 How to Talk at Budget Hearings18:18 The 2% Property Tax Cap23:08 Local Government Symposium July 1627:55 Tax Day Luncheon & Announcements28:53 Closing Thoughts