Ongoing growth means the City of Sioux Center is able to look at decreasing its portion of the property tax levy rate, which will be the 11th decrease in the past 12 years. The City Council is considering decreasing the city’s portion of the levy rate to $11.165 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, a 0.82% decrease from last year.
“With the growth that Sioux Center is experiencing, it’s really helped allow us to keep decreasing our levy rate,” said Finance Director Darryl Ten Pas. “In the past 12 years we’ve been able to either decrease it or keep it steady.”
Sioux Center’s total assessed value has increased by nearly 4% in the past year. Ten Pas said most of that is from new construction.
The City’s portion of residents’ property tax bill is about 32%. The remaining 68% percent goes to the Sioux Center Community School District, Sioux County, and Northwest Iowa Community College. Residents may see a slight increase in their city tax asking because the state has increased residential rollback percentage from 55% to 56.4%. For a home valued at $250,000, the property owner would pay $1,575 in city taxes, an increase of $25 from the previous year due to that rollback increase.
The council reviewed this general fund budget at the Jan. 27 council meeting. They set a 4 p.m. public hearing for the Feb. 15 council meeting, after which they will decide whether to approve the levy rate. The council will decide whether to approve the budget later this spring.
Additional budget highlights:
Utilities contribution
Our municipally-owned utilities are not required by law to pay property taxes, but they still make an annual contribution to the city’s general fund. In this budget the electric, gas and water utilities will contribute 5% of utility sales to the general fund.
Sioux Center emergency vehicle
Sioux Center Ambulance is including the replacement of their response vehicle in the proposed budget. This vehicle, which will be outfitted for emergency response, allows one member of the ambulance crew to immediately respond to the scene ahead of the ambulance.
Parks improvements ahead
Westside Park will see upgrades in 2021-22. The parks budget includes new playground equipment and playground surface for this park in western Sioux Center. Also in the budget is funds for planning future Central Park improvements, and dollars for trails, sidewalks and trees.
All Seasons Center
With increased admissions for Siouxnami Waterpark, the All Seasons Center is covering its operating costs with revenue. This past year, the All Seasons Center hired about 70 lifeguards and had 45,631 indoor/outdoor pool admissions.
Capital projects
Fire Station #2, a storm water detention pond near Meadow Creek, and ongoing engineering for the Highway 75 redesign are part of the capital projects budget. The plan is to fund most of the detention pond project with grant dollars.
Local Option Sales Tax
Half of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) will go into the general fund as property tax relief. The other half will assist with many projects, including paying the Siouxnami bond, funding for the updates recently completed at Children’s Park, trail additions, Fire Station #2, and potentially for an indoor turf facility if the project is approved.