The City Council of Webster City voted last night to hold a public hearing at 5:45 p.m. on April 6 to set the maximum tax levy for purposes of the city’s 2026-2027 budget.

For the third year in a row, the city is reducing property taxes — close to a .7% reduction. For a $100,000 home in Webster City, this would mean tax savings of about $30 a year.

Changes made to this year’s levy recommendation reflect further restructuring of property tax law passed during the 2024 and 2025 sessions of the legislature.

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have long held the state’s property tax rates are a drag on economic development. Their control of the House since 2011, the Senate since 2017, and governor’s office since 2011, has allowed them to pursue a long-term agenda, including property tax reform.

Real reform was first seen in House Bill 718, signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May 2023. Designed to slow the rate of growth of property tax increases and consolidate local government (county and city) tax levies, it was the first step of a larger effort.

In 2025, the legislature reduced the rate of the “roll-back” mechanism. Instituted in 1978, the roll-back reduced the effects of inflation, and valuation growth on property tax increases. Ultimately, a 3% cap on both residential and agricultural property taxes was enacted. In practice, this means that even if the value of a home or farm appreciates rapidly, the owner will not see a “spike” in taxes at the same time.

Early in the 2026 session, Reynolds proposed limiting the annual growth in county and city spending to 2% per year, with exceptions made for schools and debt service.

It’s this cap that worries county and city leaders across the state who claim they may no longer be able to fund capital improvements, or local services, some of which are required by federal or state laws.

These reforms, if ratified, could limit the use of tax-increment financing, or TIF, a major tool in Webster City’s recent economic development programs, and even restrict the county and city’s ability to set their own annual budgets.

A growing number of Iowans are asking if a cap on local spending undermines the state’s home rule law. Iowa became a home rule state in 1968, when an overwhelming majority of legislators, Democrats and Republicans alike, voted in favor of it, allowing counties and cities to govern their own affairs. Undoing home rule would return Iowa to a “Dillon’s Rule” system, in which counties and cities couldn’t pass laws or raise taxes without the legislature’s approval.

In other action, the council:

• Approved formally establishing and expanding the city’s urban renewal area, and simultaneously, set a public hearing date to approve a development agreement with Brew Oil, LLC to redevelop the former Doc’s Stop convenience store at 407 Closz Drive.

• Approved a new false alarm ordinance for the Webster City Fire Department, which would assess fees for the fourth, fifth, and all subsequent calls to a single property in a single calendar year. Fire Chief Stansfield cites such false alarms as an unnecessary, and avoidable, expense for the department. He blamed most false alarms on unattended cooking.

• Awarded a contract for concrete and plumbing work on the new East Twin Park shelter to Burgin Concrete and Riley-Armstrong Plumbing & Heating, both of Fort Dodge, for a total of $42,175. Actual construction of the shelter will be done with local volunteer labor.

• Approved a shared employee contract between the city and Webster City Community School District for a communications director. The position, which has a long list of responsibilities, is new to both entities. City Manager John Harrenstein said the objective is “to develop and implement a comprehensive communications plan. Both (School District) Superintendent Berninghaus and I expect this to be a good step forward for both city and district.”