Counties often perform services for other levels of government. The county treasurer bills all county residents for their property taxes. Your property tax bill includes taxes levied by the city, county, community college, agricultural extension services, and special districts. The county treasurer collects the taxes on behalf of all these entities and then distributes the proper amount to each entity. Finances Property taxes are the main source of income for counties.
Counties have only limited ability to raise money in other ways.
One such way is local option taxes, but they are only possible with a favorable vote from the citizenry. Iowa is unique among states in that counties pay the full nonfederal share of intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded. Despite increasing expenses incurred in providing these and other state-mandated services, counties submit balanced budgets to the state each year. However, with limited sources of income and expenses over which they have no control, counties will soon begin to cut optional, locally-determined services to keep those budgets balanced. Counties control expenses by sharing staff and services with other units of governments.