You've probably already run the comparison. Ankeny against West Des Moines. Ankeny against Johnston, or Urbandale, or Waukee. Somewhere in that spreadsheet is a line for property taxes, and Ankeny's number looks good. Lower than the neighbors. One more reason the math seems to work in Ankeny's favor.
Here's the question nobody selling you a house is asking: what happens if that number is scheduled to move before your closing paperwork is even signed? On September 8, 2026, Ankeny voters decide whether to adopt a Local Option Sales Tax, and depending on the outcome, the property tax side of your comparison changes on January 1, 2027. Not eventually. On a specific date, in a specific direction, tied to a specific vote count.
The number you found on the spreadsheet
Ankeny's city-level property tax rate for fiscal year 2026 is $9.90 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, according to the city's own property tax page. That figure covers only the city's slice of your total bill. County, school district, DMACC, and DART levies stack on top of it depending on where in Ankeny you live.
Local reporters covering the sales tax debate have gone further and put a comparison behind the raw number. WHO13's coverage of the special election states plainly that Ankeny has the lowest property tax rate in the metro, which sounds like a selling point until you learn why. A lower rate isn't a sign of lighter city spending or a leaner government. It's a sign of a narrower funding base. Ankeny collects less revenue per dollar of value because it has fewer places to collect it from.
Why the rate is low: what Ankeny doesn't have
A Local Option Sales Tax, or LOST, is a 1% sales tax that Iowa cities and counties can adopt with voter approval, split between capital projects and property tax relief. According to the city's own election page, 99.5% of Iowa's more than 940 cities already use a Local Option Sales Tax, and Ankeny is currently the only city in Polk County, and one of just five cities statewide, without one in place. Every other city ringing Ankeny, including the ones on your comparison spreadsheet, already collects this revenue.
That gap is the actual mechanism behind the low property tax rate you noticed. Without a sales tax to draw on, Ankeny has funded streets, parks, trails, and public safety equipment almost entirely through property levies. The city government has said as much directly: adding a sales tax "takes pressure off property taxes" because it opens a second funding source instead of leaving homeowners and businesses to carry the full cost, according to the city's LOST information page. State law requires that half of whatever a Local Option Sales Tax generates go toward property tax relief, which is exactly the lever now sitting in front of voters.
What's actually on the September 8 ballot
The measure is straightforward on paper and consequential in practice. If approved, Ankeny's sales tax rises from 6% to 7% starting January 1, 2027, generating an estimated $12 million a year, according to reporting from WHO13 and the Business Record. Groceries, rent, gas, prescription medicine, and vehicles are exempt, so the tax lands on discretionary retail and restaurant spending rather than the basics of a household budget.
Here's the timeline that matters if you're tracking this while you shop or list a home:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Aug. 12, 2026 | Public information meeting, Council Chambers, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 19 to Sept. 4, 2026 | Early voting window |
| Aug. 24, 2026 | Deadline to request an absentee ballot and last day for voter pre-registration |
| Aug. 25, 2026 | Public information meeting, Council Chambers, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 2, 2026 | Public information meeting, Council Chambers, noon to 1 p.m. |
| Sept. 8, 2026 | Election day, polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Jan. 1, 2027 | New sales tax rate takes effect, if voters approve it |
One detail worth sitting with: an estimated half of the new revenue would come from non-residents, meaning visitors, commuters, and shoppers who use Ankeny's roads and services without living inside city limits, according to the city's own public meeting materials. That's the diversification argument in a single number. Right now, Ankeny homeowners are effectively subsidizing infrastructure that plenty of non-residents also use, simply because there's no mechanism to collect from anyone else.
Two versions of January, and neither matches today's spreadsheet
City Manager Mike Schrock has framed this vote as the end of the road on the current funding structure. Leaders have said they've cut spending where they could and are now left with what Schrock described as "no other option," according to WHO13's reporting.
That leaves two distinct outcomes, and it's worth naming both instead of assuming the status quo holds:
- If voters approve it: sales tax rises to 7% on non-exempt purchases, and city leaders project roughly a 6% decrease in property taxes for the average Ankeny home, funded in part by that non-resident share of the new revenue.
- If voters reject it: the sales tax stays at 6%, but city leaders have said Ankeny will see its first property tax increase since fiscal year 2013, which would be the first rate hike residents have faced in well over a decade.
Ankeny has been here before. Voters rejected a Local Option Sales Tax back in 2018, so a second rejection is not a hypothetical outcome. It's a documented possibility with precedent behind it.
What this means if you're running the comparison right now
If you're weighing Ankeny against West Des Moines, Waukee, Johnston, Urbandale, or Grimes on carrying costs, the Ankeny side of that math has an expiration date attached to a specific vote. A property tax line that looks favorable in August could look meaningfully different in the spring, and which direction it moves depends entirely on a single citywide election.
For buyers closing later this year or in early 2027, the practical takeaway isn't which way to bet on the outcome. It's to build the comparison with both scenarios in mind rather than anchoring to the number sitting on today's listing sheet. A rate that drops 6% changes a monthly escrow payment. A rate that rises for the first time in over a decade changes it in the other direction. Either way, the "Ankeny is cheaper" line item you've been using as a tiebreaker between suburbs is a snapshot of a system in the middle of changing, not a fixed advantage.
For sellers, the same logic cuts the other way. A homeowner marketing an Ankeny listing this fall can point to a specific, dated civic decision that could lower carrying costs for the next owner, which is a more concrete selling point than a vague appeal to "low taxes" that a buyer could find on any suburb's chamber of commerce page.
A short FAQ
Will this tax apply to groceries or gas purchases in Ankeny? No. Groceries, rent, gas, prescription medicine, and vehicles are exempt under the proposed Local Option Sales Tax.
Has Ankeny tried this before? Yes. Voters rejected a Local Option Sales Tax in 2018. This is the city's first attempt to bring it back to the ballot since then.
What if I want to vote early or by absentee ballot? Early in-person voting runs from Aug. 19 through Sept. 4, 2026. Absentee ballot requests and voter pre-registration are due by Aug. 24, 2026.
If you're comparing Ankeny to its neighbors this fall, the tax rate you're looking at is a moving target with a landing date, not a fixed advantage to bank on. Talk to someone who's tracking it alongside the rest of the market.
Jill Budden and her team follow these local shifts as part of everyday work in Ankeny and the Des Moines suburbs. Live somewhere you love. Let's get started.
