Structure Elected county officials in Iowa are the board of supervisors, recorder, treasurer, auditor, sheriff, and county attorney. The board of supervisors is the only legislative body of county government. Boards of supervisors in Iowa have either three or five members. Under the county charter government bill, passed in 1988 by the Iowa General Assembly, counties are allowed to study and change that form. Counties originally existed to carry out the state functions at the local level, so counties have always been grassroots level governments.
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.