Lowest annual percentage increase over the last five years

DES MOINES, Iowa - State Treasurer Roby Smith reports the Iowa outstanding debt obligations for state and local governments totaled $20.9 billion as of June 30, 2023. Overall, this represents a 3.93% increase over the past fiscal year - the state's lowest annual increase over the last five years. "The rise in interest rates seem to have slowed the rate of incurred debt by public units in Iowa," explained Smith. "We also saw many education groups decrease debt from Fiscal Year 2022 to 2023, including the Board of Regents, four of the five largest school districts and community colleges." Each year, political subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies of the State are required to report any outstanding long-term obligations to the State Treasurer. Outstanding obligations include bonds, notes, capital leases, anticipatory warrants and loans.

Cities issued the largest portion of debt at $7.8 billion, with the five largest cities in the state making up 71.13% of all city debt. Along with education groups decreasing debt, counties and state agencies also decreased their total debt - state agencies having the largest decrease at 8.97%.

"We make this information public to all Iowans, with the option to sort by county, so residents can view the total debt over the years in their communities," Smith added. "To view the full report, visit IowaTreasurer.gov, select For Governments and then Outstanding Obligations Report. From there, you'll be able to review additional information and filter by entity." The report allows you to graph the last three fiscal years, or you can opt to view the full data for the previous 10 years.

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