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West Des Moines property taxes

West Des Moines has eight residential taxing districts in the Polk, Dallas and Warren county auditors' rate tables, with consolidated rates from $29.93950 to $37.92516 per $1,000 of taxable value. These are the rates on the bills paid in September 2026 and March 2027, which are based on values as of January 1, 2025. The federal boundary file also puts 0.56 sq mi of West Des Moines in the Winterset district. It is not listed because that part of the city is in Madison County, whose tax tables this site does not cover.

Lowest rate
$29.93950
Dallas Co., West Des Moines schools
Highest rate
$37.92516
Polk Co., Des Moines Independent schools
Median of all 107
$37.63716
city taxing districts covered here

Taxing districts in West Des Moines

The school levy runs from $13.04633 to $17.48983 and everything else on the bill from $6.09317 to $11.48586. The city levy ($10.80000) is the same in all eight.

Residential taxing districts in West Des Moines: the consolidated rate per $1,000 of taxable value, its school, city and other parts, and the difference from the median of all 107 city districts
School districtCountyRate per $1,000SchoolCityCounty and everything elseCompared with the median
West Des MoinesPolk34.9227613.0463310.8000011.07643−$2.71
West Des Moines, Urbandale-Windsor Heights sanitary sewer districtPolk35.3321913.0463310.8000011.48586−$2.30
Des Moines IndependentPolk37.9251616.0487310.8000011.07643+$0.29
West Des MoinesDallas29.9395013.0463310.800006.09317−$7.70
Van MeterDallas32.8875915.9944210.800006.09317−$4.75
Van Meter, Badger Creek districtDallas33.3875915.9944210.800006.59317−$4.25
WaukeeDallas34.3830017.4898310.800006.09317−$3.25
NorwalkWarren35.2309616.5633510.800007.86761−$2.41

Rates from the Polk, Dallas and Warren county auditors' tables for January 1, 2025 values. "County and everything else" is the total less the city and school levies, as the county tables list them. "Compared with the median" is the rate less the median ($37.63716) of all 107 residential city taxing districts covered here. Agricultural land, tax-increment (TIF) sub-districts that Dallas County lists separately, which carry the same rate as their base district, and city tax-exemption districts are left out. A city's parts in any other county are not covered here.

As the county tables list them: W DES MOINES CITY/WDM SCH (Polk County State District Code 770036); W DES MOINES CITY/WDM SCH/URB WIND-HTS SS (Polk County State District Code 770121); W DES MOINES CITY/DM SCH (Polk County State District Code 770122); WEST DES MOINES CITY/WDM SCH (Dallas County State base # 250639); WEST DES MOINES CITY/VAN METER SCH (Dallas County State base # 250414); WEST DES MOINES CITY/VAN METER SCH/BADGER CREEK (Dallas County State base # 250640); WEST DES MOINES CITY/WAUKEE SCH (Dallas County State base # 250082); WEST DES MOINES CITY/NORWALK SCH (Warren County State ID # 267).

How the West Des Moines rates compare

Among the 107 residential city taxing districts this site covers in the Polk, Dallas and Warren county tables, the lowest West Des Moines rate (Dallas Co., West Des Moines schools, $29.93950) is the 3rd lowest, and the highest (Polk Co., Des Moines Independent schools, $37.92516) is the 52nd highest.

The median of those 107 rates is $37.63716: one of the eight West Des Moines districts is above it and seven are below. The West Des Moines city levy, $10.80000 per $1,000, is the 17th lowest of the 44 city levies this site covers in the three counties.

Example bills

The yearly tax in each West Des Moines taxing district on a home assessed at $200,000, $320,565 and $400,000, figured the way the estimator figures it: the value × 44.5345% rollback ÷ 1,000 × the rate, less the homestead credit. $320,565 is Zillow's typical home value for West Des Moines (Zillow Home Value Index, September 2026), used here as if it were the assessed value, which it may not be. The other two are round example values.

Yearly property tax with the homestead credit in each West Des Moines taxing district, at three assessed values
District$200,000$320,565Zillow typical value$400,000
Polk Co., West Des Moines schools$2,941.161.47% of value$4,816.271.50% of value$6,051.701.51% of value
Polk Co., West Des Moines schools, Urbandale-Windsor Heights sanitary sewer district$2,975.641.49% of value$4,872.731.52% of value$6,122.641.53% of value
Polk Co., Des Moines Independent schools$3,194.021.60% of value$5,230.331.63% of value$6,571.981.64% of value
Dallas Co., West Des Moines schools$2,5221.26% of value$4,1301.29% of value$5,1881.30% of value
Dallas Co., Van Meter schools$2,7701.39% of value$4,5361.42% of value$5,7001.43% of value
Dallas Co., Van Meter schools, Badger Creek district$2,8121.41% of value$4,6041.44% of value$5,7861.45% of value
Dallas Co., Waukee schools$2,8961.45% of value$4,7421.48% of value$5,9581.49% of value
Warren Co., Norwalk schools$2,967.121.48% of value$4,858.771.52% of value$6,105.101.53% of value

Dallas County bills are rounded to the nearest even dollar (Dallas County's rate table). The Polk and Warren tables do not say how they round, so Polk and Warren County bills are shown to the cent. The bills leave out the 65-or-older and military exemptions; the property tax estimator includes them.

One bill, step by step

Polk Co., West Des Moines schools, a home assessed at $320,565:

  1. $320,565 assessed value × 44.5345% rollback = $142,762
  2. taxable value $142,762 ÷ 1,000 × $34.92276 levy rate = $4,985.64
  3. minus the homestead credit, the levy on the first $4,850 of value = $169.38
  4. net tax $4,816.27, paid in two halves of about $2,408.14. Polk County's table does not say how the bill is rounded, so this is not rounded

Look up a home in West Des Moines

Your tax statement names your district. Not sure? Look up the parcel on the county assessor's or treasurer's site.

How Iowa figures the bill

  1. Assessed value. The city or county assessor values the home as of January 1.
  2. Rollback. Only part of that value is taxed. The Iowa Department of Revenue sets the share each year for all residential property in the state (Iowa Code §441.21). For values as of January 1, 2025 it is 44.5345% (the Department's 2025 order).
  3. Exemptions come off the taxable value: $6,500 if the owner was 65 or older by January 1 of the assessment year (§425.1A), and $4,000 for an eligible veteran who has claimed the military service exemption (§426A.11). Both amounts come from the same 2023 law (2023 Iowa Acts, chapter 71, in the Code's history notes), which the Department of Revenue calls HF 718.
  4. Homestead credit. If you own and live in the home and have claimed it, the credit equals the levy on the first $4,850 of value (§425.1).

The example bills above take off the homestead credit, but a new owner must file a homestead claim with the assessor by July 1 of the year it is claimed for (Iowa Code §425.2), so someone buying now first gets the 10% homestead exemption on January 1, 2027 values, not this credit (Department of Revenue).

The estimator page has the whole method, including installments and rounding.

What changes for the bills paid in September 2027 and March 2028

Two changes already made apply to values as of January 1, 2026, which are taxed in the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2027:

  • The Department of Revenue's 2026 order sets the residential rollback at 45.6926%.
  • Senate File 2472 (2026) replaces the homestead credit with a homestead exemption of 10% of the home's taxable value, at least $5,500 and at most $20,000. The Department will adjust the $20,000 maximum for inflation for each assessment year from 2027 on (Department of Revenue). Owners who had the credit or exemption before July 1, 2026 get the new exemption without refiling if they still qualify.

The levy rates for that year are not set yet, so this page does not estimate those bills.

Sources

  1. Polk County Auditor, Consolidated Tax Levy Rates For Polk County, Iowa: For 2025 Assessed Valuations, Taxes Payable September 2026 and March 2027 (City Non-Agricultural section). Retrieved November 5, 2026. (listing page)
  2. Dallas County Auditor, Dallas County Tax Rates for all Taxing Districts: January 1, 2025 Valuations for Taxes Payable in Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Retrieved November 5, 2026. (listing page)
  3. Warren County Auditor, Warren County Tax Rates for Property Assessed January 1, 2025 and to be Collected July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (updated). Retrieved November 5, 2026. (listing page)
  4. Iowa Department of Revenue, Order Certifying Percentages for Assessment Limitations: percentages of 2025 actual value (dated October 27, 2025; issued November 1, 2025) (archived copy). Retrieved November 5, 2026. (original link) The Department's link now serves the 2026 order. The 2025 order is read from the copy archived on November 16, 2025; the Department's homestead guidance page uses the same 44.5345% for assessment year 2025.
  5. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 441.21 (actual, assessed and taxable value). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  6. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 425.1A (homestead tax exemption, age 65 or older). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  7. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 426A.11 (military service exemptions). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  8. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 425.1 (homestead credit fund). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  9. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 425.2 (qualifying for the homestead credit: claim filed by July 1 of the year claimed; a buyer refiles). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  10. Iowa Department of Revenue, Homestead Tax Credit and Exemption. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  11. Iowa Department of Revenue, Order Certifying Percentages for Assessment Limitations: percentages of 2026 actual value (dated October 27, 2026; issued November 1, 2026). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  12. Polk County Assessor, County Assessor (property search; homestead credit and military exemption applications). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  13. Polk County Treasurer, Property Tax (payment schedule, parcel and payment search). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  14. Dallas County Assessor, Assessor (property search, duties of the assessor). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  15. Dallas County Treasurer, Property Tax (collection, new-owner tax statements). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  16. Warren County Assessor, Assessor (property search, credits and exemptions). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  17. Warren County Treasurer, Treasurer (property tax division, online payment). Retrieved November 5, 2026.

An estimate for planning, not tax advice. Check your parcel's district and value with the county assessor, and the amount due with the county treasurer.