Cerro Gordo supervisors hold max levy budget hearing as confusion continues on statements mailed to taxpayers

MASON CITY — The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors held their public hearing on the proposed maximum property tax levy for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget that begins on July 1st.

The county’s budget director Heather Mathre says the proposed countywide levy as well as the rural levy will go down as part of the budget plan. “Our levy rates for countywide are dropping from $5.34 1/2 down to $5.33 1/2. The rural rate is dropping from about $3.30 down to $3.26 1/2 . We did have some increased valuations so we are taking a few more tax dollars. On the rural side $100,000, and the countywide roughly $140,000.”

Notices were sent out to property owners recently that are deceptive because of the way the state makes cities and counties use a generic form which can make it look like there would be a double-digit increase in your property taxes when there is not. Mathre says these “Truth in Taxation” statements are not correct, showing that property valuations increased by 10% or more in the county when they were only up on average under 1%. “The state uses an example of a 10% increase in your property value, and that’s what’s required by law that we use those examples. Our property value up on the countywide side it was 0.95%, not 10%, so those examples can be very misleading for our county.”

Supervisor Chris Watts calls the “Truth in Taxation” statements very deceptive to taxpayers. “This is probably, not the biggest, but one of the biggest I would say screw-ups that’s caused confusion amongst the taxpayers in the state of Iowa the last two years in a row now.”

The supervisors heard from a handful of constituents during the public hearing. They’ll hold a public hearing and vote on the Fiscal Year 2026 budget at their April 21st meeting.