Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 384.25 (2026)

General obligation bonds for essential purposes

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. A city which proposes to carry out any essential corporate purpose within or without its corporate limits, and to contract indebtedness and issue general obligation bonds to provide funds to pay all or any part of the cost of a project must do so in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter.

2. Before the council may institute proceedings for the issuance of bonds for an essential\n\nTue Dec 09 22:13:32 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 384 (48, 2) 23 CITY FINANCE, §384.26\n\ncorporate purpose, a notice of the proposed action, including a statement of the amount and purposes of the bonds, and an estimate of the annual increase in property taxes as the result of the bond issuance on a residential property with an actual value of one hundred thousand dollars, and the time and place of the meeting at which the council proposes to take action for the issuance of the bonds, must be published as provided in section 362.3. At the meeting, the council shall receive oral or written objections from any resident or property owner of the city. After all objections have been received and considered, the council may, at that meeting or any adjournment thereof, take additional action for the issuance of the bonds or abandon the proposal to issue the bonds. Any resident or property owner of the city may appeal the decision of the council to take additional action to the district court of the county in which any part of the city is located, within fifteen days after the additional action is taken, but the additional action of the council is final and conclusive unless the court finds that the council exceeded its authority. The provisions of this subsection with respect to notice, hearing, and appeal, are in lieu of the provisions contained in chapter 73A, or any other law.

3. a. Notwithstanding subsection 2, a council may institute proceedings for the issuance of bonds for an essential corporate purpose specified in section 384.24, subsection 3, paragraph “w” or “x”, in an amount equal to or greater than three million dollars by causing a notice of the proposal to issue the bonds, including a statement of the amount and purpose of the bonds, together with the maximum rate of interest which the bonds are to bear, and the right to petition for an election, to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation within the city at least ten days prior to the meeting at which it is proposed to take action for the issuance of the bonds.

b. If at any time before the date fixed for taking action for the issuance of the bonds, a petition is filed with the clerk of the city signed by eligible electors of the city equal in number to twenty percent of the persons in the city who voted for the office of president of the United States at the last preceding general election that had such office on the ballot, asking that the question of issuing the bonds be submitted to the registered voters of the city, the council shall either by resolution declare the proposal to issue the bonds to have been abandoned or shall direct the county commissioner of elections to call a special election upon the question of issuing the bonds. Notice of the election and its conduct shall be in the manner provided in section 384.26.

c. If a petition is not filed, or if a petition is filed and the proposition of issuing the bonds is approved at an election, the council may proceed with the authorization and issuance of the bonds. [R60, §1060; C73, §458; C97, §697; S13, §716-d, 840-e, 849-h, -j, 912, 912-a, 1056-a43, -a63, -a64; SS15, §758-b, -e, 840-g, -p, 997-a, -c; C24, §5750, 5878 – 5881, 6103, 6126, 6261 – 6263, 6265, 6576, 6594, 6595, 6608, 6744, 6746; C27, 31, 35, §5750, 5878 – 5881, 6066-a11, 6103, 6126, 6261 – 6263, 6265, 6594, 6595, 6608, 6744, 6746; C39, §5750, 5878 – 5881, 6066.13, 6103, 6126, 6261, 6261.1, 6261.2, 6262, 6263, 6265, 6576, 6594, 6595, 6608, 6744, 6746; C46, 50, §368.13, 381.5 – 381.8, 392.11, 395.25, 396.22, 408.10 – 408.14, 408.16, 416.101, 416.104, 416.122, 416.123, 416.138, 420.55, 420.57; C54, 58, §368.16, 368.29, 368.32, 381.7, 392.11, 395.25, 396.22, 404.18, 408.17; C62, 66, 71, 73, §368.16, 368.29, 368.32, 381.7, 392.11, 395.25, 396.22, 404.19, 408.17; C75, 77, 79, 81, §384.25] 2009 Acts, ch 100, §15, 21; 2018 Acts, ch 1041, §127; 2023 Acts, ch 71, §149, 154 Referred to in §28E.17, 37.6, 357E.11A, 364.4, 384.24, 384.24A, 384.71, 386.11, 389.4, 390.5 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1979–2015 · leading case: Rees v. City of Shenandoah, 682 N.W.2d 77 (Iowa 2004).

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Rees v. City of Shenandoah, 682 N.W.2d 77 (Iowa 2004). · cites it 6× “Iowa Code § 384.25 (2). The construction of recreational facilities or recreational facilities systems is a city enterprise.”

Hamilton v. City of Urbandale, 291 N.W.2d 15 (Iowa 1980). · cites it 4× “See § 384.25, The Code. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment.”

Grove v. City of Des Moines, 280 N.W.2d 378 (Iowa 1979). · cites it 6× “Under section 384.25, bonds for an essential corporate purpose such as refunding can be issued by a city council itself after public hearing, while under section 384.”

Fults v. City of Coralville, 666 N.W.2d 548 (Iowa 2003). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 384.25 (2). The property owners argue the notice published in January 2002 did not contain information of the contingent nature of the loans or of the effect the loans may have on the municipal credit rating.”

Gary F. Van Den Boom v. City of Eldora, Iowa (Iowa Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 14× “See Iowa Code § 384.25 (2) (“Any resident or property owner of the city may appeal the decision of the council to take additional action to the district court .”

— Iowa Code § 384.25(2) — 4 cases

Rees v. City of Shenandoah, 682 N.W.2d 77 (Iowa 2004). “Iowa Code § 384.25 (2). The construction of recreational facilities or recreational facilities systems is a city enterprise.”

Hamilton v. City of Urbandale, 291 N.W.2d 15 (Iowa 1980). “See § 384.25, The Code. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment.”

Grove v. City of Des Moines, 280 N.W.2d 378 (Iowa 1979). “Under section 384.25, bonds for an essential corporate purpose such as refunding can be issued by a city council itself after public hearing, while under section 384.”

Gary F. Van Den Boom v. City of Eldora, Iowa (Iowa Ct. App. 2015). “See Iowa Code § 384.25 (2) (“Any resident or property owner of the city may appeal the decision of the council to take additional action to the district court .”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.