The Waukee Brief
Property values around Waukee have been climbing for years, and a lot of homeowners never realize they can push back. Here's how your tax bill is actually built, how to check whether your assessment is fair, and exactly how to protest it - including the short window each spring when you're allowed to. One thing to get straight up front: Waukee is in Dallas County, so your assessment and appeal go through Adel, not Polk County.
The Dallas County Assessor values your home as of Jan 1. If you think it's too high, you file a written protest with the Board of Review between April 2 and April 30, at 800 Court Street, Suite 120, Adel - back it with comparable sales. Look up your assessment on the Dallas County Assessor site. Credits like the homestead exemption and a statewide rollback lower what you actually pay. Waukee's FY2027 city levy is $12.80 per $1,000 of taxable value, and most Waukee homes pay a combined rate of $35.45 per $1,000. The homestead break gets bigger starting with the September 2027 bill. Estimate your bill →
Most Waukee homes are in the Waukee school district, where the combined property tax rate is $35.45 per $1,000 of taxable value for fiscal 2027 (the bills due in September 2026 and March 2027). After Iowa's residential rollback, that works out to roughly 1.58% of your assessed value before credits.
I pulled 26 years of state levy records so you don't have to. Waukee's combined rate peaked at $39.33 in fiscal 2005, dipped to $35.58 by fiscal 2014, climbed back to $37.05 in fiscal 2019, and has eased down since. Fiscal 2027's $35.45 is the lowest in the state's records back to 2002, 10% below the peak. A lower rate doesn't automatically mean a lower bill, though: when assessed values climb, your bill can rise even as the rate falls.
■ Waukee schools · ■ Van Meter schools. Combined rate per $1,000 of taxable value, fiscal years 2002 to 2027.
Your rate depends on which school district your house sits in. That's the biggest single piece of the bill.
| Waukee homes in | FY2027 rate | % of assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Waukee schools | $35.45 | 1.58% |
| Van Meter schools | $33.95 | 1.51% |
"% of assessed" applies the 44.5345% (2025 assessments) rollback before any credits or exemptions. Waukee homes in the Waukee school district outside Walnut Township pay $35.44, less than a penny different.
Here's how the $35.83 rate for Waukee homes in the Waukee school district split up in fiscal 2026, the latest year the state breaks it out by taxing body.
Per $1,000 of taxable value.
Comparing each metro city's main residential tax district (the one with the most homestead filings), Waukee has the 3rd-lowest combined rate of these 12.
| City | FY2027 rate | 5-yr change |
|---|---|---|
| Clive West Des Moines schools | $33.66 | -2.6% |
| West Des Moines Waukee schools | $34.38 | -0.4% |
| Waukee Waukee schools | $35.45 | -1.7% |
| Ankeny Ankeny schools | $36.68 | -4.8% |
| Altoona Southeast Polk schools | $37.03 | -1.3% |
| Johnston Johnston schools | $37.05 | -6.6% |
| Pleasant Hill Southeast Polk schools | $37.66 | -1.4% |
| Bondurant Bondurant-Farrar schools | $37.96 | -9.1% |
| Norwalk Norwalk schools | $38.45 | -8.3% |
| Urbandale Urbandale schools | $38.94 | -1.7% |
| Grimes Dallas Center-Grimes schools | $39.79 | -1.7% |
| Des Moines Des Moines schools | $43.74 | -1.1% |
5-year change compares fiscal 2027 with fiscal 2022. Other parts of each city can have different rates.
Iowa's new law, SF 2472, swaps the old homestead tax credit for a bigger homestead exemption: 10% of your home's taxable value, at least $5,500 and at most $20,000. It starts with the bills you'll pay in September 2027 and March 2028. Put in your assessed value from the Dallas County Assessor to see both bills side by side.
The next-bill estimate holds today's tax rate and rollback steady. The state sets the 2026 rollback in late fall and your tax rate is set next spring, so the real number will move. This assumes a single homestead parcel in town, not in a TIF district, on half an acre or less. Military and disabled-veteran credits aren't included.
An estimate, not a tax bill. Your official numbers come from the Iowa county treasurers' property tax lookup. If you already had the homestead credit, the state says the new exemption is applied automatically.
Your Waukee property tax isn't set by one office; it's built in four layers, from the assessor's market value down through the rollback, credits, and the combined levy rate:
The City of Waukee's share of the levy is $12.80 per $1,000 of taxable value for FY2027, but the city is only one slice. The city describes roughly 36 cents of each property-tax dollar going to the City of Waukee, about 50 cents to the Waukee Community School District, and about 10 cents to Dallas County. Iowa property taxes are paid in arrears, in two installments (September and March).
Pull your own record on the Dallas County Assessor site. Search your address and you'll see your assessed value, the details on file for your home (square footage, year built, condition), and recent sales of comparable properties - the exact ammunition you'd need to appeal. Remember that taxable value is not the same as the assessed value shown; a statewide rollback is applied before the levy.
Assessor & online property search: dallascountyiowa.gov/158/Assessor → · Office / Board of Review: 800 Court Street, Suite 120, Adel, IA 50003. New assessment notices generally go out in the spring of odd-numbered years (with updates in between).
File a written protest with the Dallas County Board of Review between April 2 and April 30, backed by comparable sales; you can protest only during that specific window each year.
1. Pull comparable sales near you (the Dallas County Assessor site and your Realtor can both help). 2. File a written protest with the Board of Review between April 2 and April 30 - received at the Assessor's office in Adel within that window. 3. Attach your evidence: comparable sales, a recent independent appraisal, or documentation of condition problems. 4. Request an oral hearing on the form if you want to appear; the Board generally allows about ten minutes per property. The Board of Review meets in May. 5. If denied, you can appeal to the Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB) or district court within the deadline on the decision letter.
You're protesting the value, not the tax bill - argue that your assessed value is higher than your home's actual market value as of January 1. "My taxes went up" isn't grounds; "comparable homes sold for less than my assessment" is.
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Only between April 2 and April 30. Miss the window and you generally wait until the next year (with narrow exceptions).
No - filing a protest with the Dallas County Board of Review is free. You'd only pay if you hire an appraiser or a firm to help build your case.
You apply once and it carries forward. If you bought recently and never filed, do it through the Dallas County Assessor, and check the extra $6,500 exemption if you're 65 or older. If you already had the old homestead credit, the state says you get the new 10% exemption automatically.
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