Dallas County recently approved its budget for the 2019 fiscal year, and it comes with some good news for taxpayers.

In particular, Dallas County residents should be happy to see the countywide tax levy sitting at a mere $6.65 per $1,000 of assessed value. By comparison, counties with similar populations and demographics, including Dubuque, Pottawattamie, and Story counties, have tax levies of $10, $11.47, and $8.24, respectively. One reason for the low Dallas County levy is the recently passed local option sales and services tax. Operations Director Rob Tietz said without that, the levy would be closer to the $8.24 Story County pays.

Tietz added, another reason for the low levy is more of a double-edged sword, as Dallas County has considerably higher assessed valuations for properties than the comparable counties. The countywide total property valuation is just under $5.5 billion for the coming fiscal year. The next highest valuation of the similar counties belongs to Pottawattamie, which came in at around $4.9 billion. A final factor for the levy is Dallas County’s use of tax increment financing (TIF) subsidies, which total nearly $700 million for the coming fiscal year. That figure is around 30% more than the TIF subsidies used in Dubuque County.

The Dallas County Supervisors approved the fiscal year 2019 budget at a recent meeting, and said they hope to continue the trend of the tax levy steadily decreasing each year, especially as the County’s population booms and assessed values also increase.