Des Moines Tax Abatement: Coverage, Eligibility, and Duration

Des Moines tax abatement temporarily removes the added value of new construction or qualifying improvements from your property tax bill, while you keep paying taxes on the property’s pre-improvement value. Depending on the project type, location, and sustainability features, the exemption runs anywhere from five to ten years. Renovations of existing homes get the most generous treatment: a full ten-year, 100% exemption on the added value, available anywhere in the city.

What the Exemption Actually Covers

Abatement applies only to the value your project adds, not to the property’s existing value. Renovate a home assessed at $200,000 up to $260,000, and the abatement targets the $60,000 increase. You keep paying taxes on the original $200,000 for the entire abatement period.¹

Savings don’t appear immediately. Iowa property taxes run on an eighteen-month cycle: the assessor sets value as of January 1, but the first tax payment on that assessment isn’t due until the fall of the following year, with the second half due the spring after. A project assessed in January 2026 would show up on bills due in fall 2027 and spring 2028.²

Who Qualifies

Every project has to clear three baseline requirements. The property must comply with all city requirements. The improvements must raise the assessed value by at least 5%. And any work requiring building permits must have those permits issued before construction starts.³ On a home assessed at $250,000, the 5% threshold means the project has to add at least $12,500 in value.

Location matters. Des Moines designates certain neighborhoods as Targeted Residential Areas, and projects inside those zones qualify for longer schedules. Properties outside the targeted areas still qualify, just for shorter terms. The city publishes maps on its Development Services pages for both low-density and missing middle categories.

Larger projects face an extra test. Commercial buildings, industrial properties, and residential developments with thirteen or more dwelling units must include at least four sustainability features from an approved list. Qualifying features include permeable pavement on at least 30% of paved area, renewable building materials on 90% of exterior elevations, proximity to a DART transit stop, solar or geothermal systems, and reuse of a previously developed site. An owner can also propose alternative measures and ask the Development Services Director for written approval.⁴ For these projects, qualifying improvements include new buildings, additions exceeding 50% of existing floor area, and renovations costing more than 50% of the building’s assessed value.

How Long the Abatement Lasts

Des Moines uses its own schedules rather than Iowa’s statutory defaults. The schedule depends on whether you’re renovating or building new, how many units, where the property sits, and whether you meet enhanced insulation and electric vehicle charging standards.

Single-Family and Duplex (Low-Density)

Renovations of existing structures, along with new accessory structures, get a ten-year, 100% exemption on added value, citywide.³ For most homeowners taking on a major remodel, this is the schedule that applies: zero taxes on the added value for the full ten years.

New home construction uses declining schedules, where the exemption percentage steps down over time. Length depends on location and sustainability features:

Outside the targeted area, without enhanced insulation and EV charging: five years
Outside the targeted area, with those features: six years
Inside the targeted area (excluding Riverpoint West), without those features: nine years
Inside the targeted area (excluding Riverpoint West), with those features: ten years

To unlock the longer schedule, walls separating conditioned from unconditioned space need a minimum R-value of 20, and the garage must include a Level 2 EV charger or the wiring and raceway to install one later.³ Meeting both can effectively double the abatement length for a basic build outside the targeted area.

Missing Middle (Two to Twelve Units)

Des Moines runs a separate track for duplexes, townhouse structures up to twelve units, and small apartment or condo buildings in that size range.⁵ Renovations of existing structures and new accessory housing structures get the same ten-year, 100% citywide exemption as single-family renovations.

New two-to-twelve-unit buildings follow declining schedules:

Outside Riverpoint West and Bridge District Plats 2 and 3, without insulation and EV features: eight years
Outside Riverpoint West and Bridge District Plats 2 and 3, with those features: nine years
Within Bridge District Plats 2 and 3: developers can choose the shorter citywide schedule or the longer one, depending on whether the sustainability features are included

The 5% value-increase threshold and permit rules apply the same way. Projects inside Riverpoint West follow a separate abatement page maintained by the city.⁵

Commercial, Industrial, and High-Density

These projects run on the same framework but have to meet the four-sustainability-features requirement described earlier. Review and inspection are handled by Development Services during the regular development review process.⁴

How to Apply, and the February 1 Deadline

Applications go through the City of Des Moines Development Services department via the city’s online Customer Self Service portal. The department reviews projects during development review and inspects the completed work before approving the final application.⁴

You’ll want the following before filing:

The legal description of your property, from your deed or the Polk County Assessor
Any building permit numbers issued for the work
The project completion date
Total cost of improvements

Confirm final inspections are completed before you document the project as finished on the application.

The hard deadline is February 1 of the assessment year in which the value is added. A project completed in 2025 must be filed by February 1, 2026. Miss that date and you lose a full year of benefit, because the exemption cannot be applied retroactively to an earlier assessment year.⁶ A project that finishes in December leaves barely a month to file. Plan the paperwork around that.

After the Exemption Is Granted

Once the city approves the application, the Polk County Assessor adjusts the property records. The exemption continues for the full term of your assigned schedule, with periodic physical reviews to confirm ongoing eligibility.⁷

Selling the property doesn’t end the abatement. Under Iowa Code Section 404.3C, a recorded assessment agreement is binding on subsequent purchasers, so the new owner receives the remaining years.⁷ That can be a real selling point on a listing. Existing exemptions also keep running even if Des Moines later repeals the underlying urban revitalization area designation.

One federal interaction is worth checking. Abatement lowers your local property tax bill, which affects your federal SALT deduction. For the 2026 tax year, the federal deduction for state and local taxes is capped at $40,000 for most filers. If your property taxes already sit well below the cap, abatement has no federal downside. If you’re near the cap, the lower property tax bill may free up room to deduct other state and local taxes you were otherwise losing.⁸

1
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 404.3 – Basis of Tax Exemption
2
Iowa Department of Revenue. Iowa Property Tax Overview
3
City of Des Moines. Low-Density Residential Tax Abatement
4
City of Des Moines. Commercial, Industrial, and High-Density Residential Tax Abatement Acknowledgment Form
5
City of Des Moines. Missing Middle Residential Tax Abatement
6
Iowa Department of Revenue. Tax Credits and Exemptions
7
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code Chapter 404 – Urban Revitalization Tax Exemptions
8
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 503, Deductible Taxes