The City Council of Webster City will hold a public hearing tonight at 5:45 p.m., prior to the regular City Council meeting. This public hearing will address the adoption of a staff-recommended property tax levy of 16.51238 for the 2026/27 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2026.

Under the proposal, residential property owners would pay $16.51 in taxes for each thousand dollars of assessed value of their home; a minor reduction in taxes from last year.

Examples in the Council packet show the owner of a home worth $100,000 in assessed value, will see a reduction in property taxes of about $30. Similarly, owners of homes assessed at $250,000 could expect to pay $80 less in property taxes this year.

The reduced rates are partially due to 10 years of property tax reform by the Iowa Legislature. The first action came in 2015 when the legislature reduced commercial and industrial property taxes to 95% of assessed valuation in year one, and 90% in year two, and every year thereafter.

To reduce the cost of lost tax revenues, the legislature made off-set payments to cities from 2015-2020. Those payments never fully reimbursed cities for the lost revenues, however.

Then in 2021, the legislature began reducing these so-called “backfill funds” annually until it reaches zero.

For Webster City that will occur in fiscal year 2029, when the state’s final payment of $13,566.08 is paid. Similarly, in 2022, the legislature eliminated the business property tax credit, replacing it with an automatic rollback on the first $150,000 of assessed value. This blanket policy reduces property taxes on every commercial, industrial and railroad property in the state.

In the current session, legislators are discussing measures that could cap property tax increases paid to cities to a maximum 2% per year, which doesn’t cover the present national inflation rate of 2.41%, as calculated by Congresses’ Joint Economic Committee in February, 2026.

City Manager John Harrenstein, commenting on potential effects of such caps on Webster City, said, “Impacts of the proposed legislation range from caps that can be sustained by the city, and caps which will force difficult decisions regarding services and staffing.”

The public will get a first look at a city budget for fiscal year 2026/27 at tonight’s meeting. The new budget projects that revenues will increase $52,459, while expenses are forecasted to increase by $305,810. Staff is recommending a second public hearing which will only address the budget, which will be held at 6:05 p.m. Monday April 20 at City Hall.

Proposed higher electricity rates charged to the city’s customers, faces a third, and final, reading tonight. If there are no objections, written or oral, to the measure, it takes effect immediately, with an increase of 5% April 1, 2026; a further 4% increase January 1, 20276, and a final increase of 2% on July 1, 2027. Council’s plan is to return to 1% annual increases in rates each July 1, a policy it has pursued the last nine years.

In other matters, Council will consider:

• whether to adopt the 2026 Iowa Statewide Urban Standards & Specifications for Public Improvements for all construction work in Webster City. The 2022 version of these standards has been in effect here since approved by Council March 7, 2022. The standards represent what are considered “best-in-class” materials and procedures, and are said to reduce confusion for contractors awarded work in Webster City.

• bids for 2026 asphalt crack sealing, asphalt patching, and repairs to concrete streets. Last year, city work concentrated on repairs to concrete streets, including a major rebuilding of Beach Street, as well as completion of the extensive rebuilding of Fair Meadow Drive west of Des Moines Street. Work is proceeding now to finish up sidewalk installations on Fair Meadow.

• assuming, and then forgiving a mortgage on the building at 1317 Beach Street, previously owned by Webster City Day Care Center, Inc. Under two related agreements, the property would be conveyed to Riverview Early Childhood Center, who intend to rehabilitate and expand it for greater capacity and scope of child care services.