The Waukee Brief
Here's the number you actually want: Waukee's sales tax rate is 7 percent. That's Iowa's 6 percent statewide rate plus a 1 percent local option sales tax, the same combined rate charged across most of the Des Moines metro. Here's what that means for your receipt, what the extra penny funds in Waukee, and how the rate compares nearby.
The sales tax rate in Waukee is 7 percent: Iowa's 6 percent statewide rate plus a 1 percent local option sales tax (LOST). That's the same 7 percent charged in neighboring Clive, Urbandale, and West Des Moines, so a $100 purchase rings up at $107. The extra penny stays local: the City of Waukee has described using its one-cent revenue for parks and trails and for property-tax relief.
Iowa lets cities add a local option sales tax of 1 percent on top of the state's 6 percent, and the vast majority do. Waukee levies the 1 percent, as one of the contiguous cities in the area (alongside Clive, Urbandale, and West Des Moines) that each apply the local option, so its total rate is 7 percent. In practical terms, that penny-on-the-dollar is baked into nearly everything you buy in town, and it matches what you'd pay a few minutes away in the rest of the metro.
A local option sales tax is attractive to cities because a share of it is paid by non-residents passing through, and it can fund projects or offset property taxes. The City of Waukee has described its one-cent tax as generating roughly $2 million a year, split evenly between parks and trails improvements and property-tax relief. For the current use of the funds, see the City of Waukee's One-Cent Sales Tax information.
Sales tax is separate from property tax, and the two are often confused. For how Waukee's property tax works, who sets your assessment (the Dallas County Assessor), and how to appeal it, see our Waukee property taxes guide, and for the wider budget picture, the cost of living guide.
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7 percent: Iowa's 6 percent statewide rate plus a 1 percent local option sales tax. That's the same 7 percent charged across most of the metro, including Clive, Urbandale, and West Des Moines.
Yes, a 1 percent local option on top of the state's 6 percent, for a total of 7 percent. Waukee applies it as one of the contiguous cities in the area that each levy the penny.
The City of Waukee has described the roughly $2 million a year it raises as split evenly between parks and trails and property-tax relief. See the city's One-Cent Sales Tax information for the current use.
The rate is set at the city level in Iowa. Waukee is in Dallas County, where the local sales tax minimum is 7 percent, and Waukee's combined rate is 7 percent (6 percent state plus 1 percent local option).
About $7, for a total of $107, because Waukee's combined sales tax rate is 7 percent. Some items, like vehicles and certain services, are taxed differently, so check the Iowa Department of Revenue for specifics.