Solon Budget Series Part 1 Review:
• All properties within the city are assigned a 100% property value (also called assessed value) by the county assessor.
• A Rollback percentage that is determined by the State of Iowa is applied to the assessed value to determine the taxable value of a property. The Rollback for FY25 for residential property is 46.3428%. Example: If the assessed value of a property is $100,000, then the taxable value is $46,343.
• Property taxes paid on each property in Solon are distributed among several public agencies. See chart (FY24 Total Property Tax Levy Distribution) to see how your current FY24 property taxes are distributed:
How does the City Council determine the city portion of the property taxed paid by Solon residents?
The total taxable amount of the properties in the City of Solon for the FY25 Budget year is $172,716,808. When adding up the taxable valuation for each individual parcel of property within the city limits, that total is $172,716,808 as determined by the county.
This amount of $172,716,808 provides the base upon which the City Council can levy (request taxes). The taxable valuation can change from year to year, especially for cities like Solon that are experiencing new construction and adding new properties to your city.
Through a levy certification that is part of the budget process, cities request how much of the $172,716,808 is needed for city operations. New state legislation approved last year known as House File 718, revised the levy request process for all cities in Iowa. House File 718 reduced the levies available to cities and created a ratchet down plan so cities experiencing growth (like Solon) cannot fully capture the taxable growth that comes with new construction.
Prior to House File 718, cities in Iowa were allowed to collect a general fund levy of $8.10 of each
$1000 increment of the taxable valuation. After House Fire 718, the City of Solon is limited to a general fund levy of $7.86408 for FY25. The general fund levy is the primary source of income for the City of Solon and is the primary source of funding for fire, law enforcement, streets, library, parks, recreation, and administrative services provided to Solon residents.
In addition to the general fund levy, cities have access to other levies. The other levies the City of Solon has historically collected include property taxes, employee benefits, and capital project levies.
The chart “Solon FY24 Budget” shows the current year (FY24) levies compared to the proposed FY25 levies:
The charts show the sequence calculations for each FY24 and FY25 budget years. While the levy rate is higher in FY25 than FY24, the property taxes due in FY25 are less. This is because the Rollback impacts the amount of the taxable value. The higher the rollback, means the higher the taxable value. The lower the Rollback, means the lower the taxable value.
The chart also shows that property taxes are determined by a combination of factors including assessed/taxable values, Rollback factor, and levy rates by several public agencies.
The chart, “City Levies in Johnson Co.) shows the levy history for the cities in Johnson County since 2018. Historically, the City of Solon has had the third lowest city levy rates in Johnson County.
The City of Solon levy rate for FY25 will be 11.21346 per $1000 of taxable valuation. The levy rate for FY25 is higher than FY24, while the actual city portion of property taxes due is less because the Rollback is less in FY25 than it was in FY24.
Property owners in Johson County recently received a Property Tax Levy Public Hearing Notice. This notice is intended to educate and inform property owners on budget levies being proposed for their city, county, and school. The date and time of the public hearing for each city, county, and school is shown on the notice along with the current property taxes being collected and levy along with the proposed FY25 property taxes and levy for the upcoming budget year.
The Effective Tax Rate column can be confusing along with the % Change column shown on the back page. The percentage change of -13.48 reflects the Effective Tax Rate. Meaning, if the same dollar amount was budgeted in FY25 as was budgeted in FY24, then the levy would be less and therefore taxes due would be less by -13.48 percent.
The Iowa Department of Management has additional information to help understand the Property Tax Levy Public Hearing Notice on their website at:
https://dom.iowa.gov/message/article/property-taxes-tax-replacement/school-county-and-city-budget-year-statement
The information in Part 2 of this Budget Series focuses on understanding levy rates and how they impact property taxes and city budget.
Part 3 of this Budget Series next week will review the Solon City Council process to determine how the funds received through property tax revenues will be spent on operating expenditures for Solon.

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City Levies in Johnson County