Winterset vs Madison County: City Desk or the County Clerk

Thomas Garner
Aug 19
12 min read

Updated: 12 hours ago

Clark Tower stone observation tower, Winterset City Park

Winterset, Iowa sits in Madison County, about thirty-five minutes southwest of Des Moines via IA-92. City of Winterset and Madison County do not share a clerk with Des Moines. City Hall answers at 515-462-1422 from 124 W. Court Ave., Winterset, IA 50273. Hours have sat Monday through Friday, 8 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon. Hours change. Confirm 2026. Madison County Auditor Michele Brant answers at 515-462-3914 from 112 N. John Wayne Drive, PO Box 152. Clerk of Court answers. That last line is court records. It is not a license window.

The published year stays missing. Winterset returned 404. n unknown. Occupancy unknown. Peak-3 unknown. Hole unknown. Pella $20,593 is a labeled neighbor. Do not copy occupancy from it as this extract. Do not invent a Winterset year. Do not file a Des Moines mash on this driveway. Dedicated STR ordinance is not confirmed this pass. Flag unknown. Iowa hotel and motel tax remittance is not a land-use permit. Census 5,353. Modest, unmeasured overnight is the honest line.

This page is the identification file. Pull the tax map, then pick the clerk the driveway actually has. Tourism at is the festival line, not a clerk's office. A county bridge parcel does not inherit a city clerk. A city square parcel does not inherit a county driveway. Unknown n does not name the clerk. Read the map, then dial the phone that matches it.

City Hall Sits at 124 W. Court Ave.

The first question is not which span the guest will photograph. The first question is which parcel the driveway sits on. City of Winterset and Madison County are two separate offices on the same map. Des Moines is a third city thirty-five minutes away and is not this hall. Pella is not this hall. A listing that says covered-bridge country near Des Moines has not named a clerk. A listing that says Des Moines when the tax map says Winterset has named the wrong one. Pull the parcel before you pull the photography or quote a missing year.

The Des Moines drive runs southwest on IA-92. It does not assign the hall. City Hall sits at 124 W. Court. The Auditor sits on John Wayne Drive. Guests can drive Des Moines and this cell in a morning. The clerk cannot.The identity filekeeps $20,593 on Pella. The call sheet keeps city and county apart on the phone. A county bridge parcel does not inherit a city clerk. A city square parcel does not inherit a county driveway. Unknown n does not make the map optional.

If the address is ambiguous, stop advertising. Call the city or the county that matches the tax map and ask which desk owns the parcel in 2026. Do not ask Winterset hall to speak for a county span. Do not ask Madison County to bless a Des Moines mash. Do not ask the court clerk to bless a short-term use. Court clerk (515) 462-4451 is court records, not a license window. Read the map, then dial the phone that matches it. A festival itinerary is not a tax map. The driveway has one clerk.

How to reach City Hall

City of Winterset is incorporated. Madison County land around the bridges may not be. That line is the whole identification step. City Hall sits at 124 W. Court Ave., Winterset, IA 50273. Hours have sat Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. confirm. The phone is (515) 462-1422. Fax has sat (515) 462-1963. Clerk-specific name was not on the homepage body this pass. Start at the main number. Dedicated city STR ordinance is not confirmed this pass. Flag unknown. Rank leftover copy that writes a confirmed permit mis-labels the file.

A city driveway does not become a county card because a span is nearby. A county driveway does not become a city license because the guest might walk the square.The market extractalready records the 404. The clerk file records which municipality the tax bill names. Walk in with the parcel, not with a Des Moines mash. confirm at City Hall if the map says city limits. Confirm county remittance if the map says unincorporated. Iowa hotel tax is remittance, not a permit.

Ask the hall whether the parcel sits inside city limits, what remittance path 2026 still requires, and whether any dedicated short-stay paper exists at all. Bring the parcel, the site plan if you have it, and the platform URL you intend to run. Leave Pella and Parke County out of the zoning question. This hall answers for the City of Winterset. Confirm remittance separately. Tax is not occupancy. A Saturday festival does not rewrite the town line. Do not send this host to a Des Moines license page. That hall does not own this square.

Auditor Michele Brant Sits on John Wayne Drive

Write (515) 462-1422 as the city start. Address is 124 W. Court Ave. That number is City Hall. It is not the Auditor. It is not the court clerk. It is not tourism. Do not call (515) 462-3914 and expect a city-limits application. That number is Michele Brant. Do not call (515) 462-4451 and expect a short-stay window. That number is the Clerk of Court at 112 N. John Wayne Drive. Do not call (515) 462-1185 and expect a permit. That number is Madison County Tourism. Four phones. Four jobs. Call the one the driveway actually has.

The hall path is paper, not a year. Typical year is still missing. Occupancy is still unknown. A phone call does not raise those figures. A phone call keeps a host from advertising a stay the city will not recognize. Inside city limits, 124 W. Court is the start.Startup costskeep that number off a furnish fantasy. This clerk page only refuses to skip Court Avenue. Hours have sat 8:00am to 4:30pm weekdays. confirm. Do not invent a named city clerk. Do not invent a permit fee. Dedicated permit is unknown.

Ask what 2026 still requires on a city driveway. Bring the parcel. Bring a simple statement of use. Entire home or not. Nights intended to sell. Whether a live tile already exists. Do not bring a borrowed Pella T12. Do not bring festival traffic as permit evidence. A Friday key does not mean county paper covers a city driveway. Call the desk. Write the date. Confirm remittance live. Confirm whether a dedicated permit even exists. Winterset is still 404 as a year. Do not invent one at the counter.

Auditor Is

Madison County Auditor Michele Brant sits at 112 N. John Wayne Drive, PO Box 152, Winterset, IA 50273. Phone (515) 462-3914. Fax has sat (515) 705-0348. Hours have sat Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. confirm. That desk is county records and elections. It is not confirmed as the office that licenses short-term rentals this pass. Flag unknown. Do not write a county license number you have not been handed. Do not treat John Wayne Drive as 124 W. Court. Do not treat the Auditor as tourism. The street name is a civic address. It is not occupancy.

Unincorporated and bridge-adjacent hosts start at this county phone. They do not start at a costume city application unless the tax map says city limits. They do not start at the court clerk. They do not start at (515) 462-1185.The buyer packetalready says two separate offices travel with the deed. This section only names the county human. Ask which 2026 remittance still exists and which other County market, if any, still touches a lodging stay. Do not ask Michele Brant to issue a city paper the city does not own. Do not ask (515) 462-1422 to bless a county card.

If a broker packet cites a confirmed Madison County STR ordinance, send the packet back. The leftover mis-labels the jurisdiction. The county is real. The confirmed window is not. Keep (515) 462-3914 on the county parcel. Keep it off a city-limits walk unless the map says both questions apply. Court clerk (515) 462-4451 is still not the window. Do not file court records as a license. The timber is not a desk. Michele Brant is the desk.

Court Clerk Is Not the License Window

Madison County Clerk of Court sits at 112 N. John Wayne Drive and answers at (515) 462-4451. That is the same civic campus as the Auditor. It is not the same job. Court records are court records. They are not a short-stay license. They are not remittance. They are not zoning. A host who calls the court clerk for a permit is already on the wrong line. A packet that files a court conversation as diligence is already a costume. Do not put (515) 462-4451 on the license line of a listing.

The court clerk is not City Hall. The court clerk is not Michele Brant. The court clerk is not tourism. Four numbers exist because four jobs exist.The rules filealready split those offices. This page repeats the court line so a 404 does not send anyone to the wrong counter. A missing extract is a missing year. It is not a reason to wander the courthouse looking for a window that does not sell nights. Identification still starts with the tax map. Then City Hall or the Auditor. Never the court clerk.

Do not carry a court file into City Hall as if it proved a license. Do not carry it into a county listing as if it proved remittance. Do not copy occupancy from a Des Moines court as a substitute hall. Do not copy occupancy from a Pella clerk as a substitute hall. Pella's clerk sits on Broadway in Marion County. That is another pin.How to market a staycan name the square after the parcel is right. This clerk page only refuses to let a court phone pick the overnight. The license window, if one exists, is still unconfirmed.

Tourism does not issue short-term rental licenses

Madison County Tourism and the Covered Bridge Festival answer at (515) 462-1185. That is a visitor line. It can speak to Saturday October 10 and Sunday October 11, 2026. It can speak to a 9am window. Confirm close times live. It cannot issue a short-stay permit. It cannot settle city limits. It cannot settle a county parcel. It cannot stand in for Iowa hotel tax remittance. A host who calls tourism for a license is already on the wrong line. A guest can call tourism. A listing packet cannot file that call as diligence.

The festival is demand, not T12. The museum is a hook, not occupancy. Six bridges are landscape, not a clerk.The tourism filekeeps visitor dollars off a missing extract. This clerk page keeps the tourism phone off the permit line. Do not put (515) 462-1185 next to City Hall as if they were one window. Do not put it next to Michele Brant. Do not put it next to the court clerk. Four phones. Four jobs. The visitor line is the visitor line. The hall is the hall.

A tile that lists tourism as the license contact is already wrong. Take it down until the hall and the remittance path match the driveway. Copy is cheaper to fix than a tax desk you advertised in public. Do not send the host to Parke County. Do not send the host to Pella Tulip Time for a Winterset permit.The visitor guidecan name the festival for a guest. The clerk file names it as not the counter. Confirm hours with tourism. Confirm the parcel with the hall.

Dedicated STR Permit Is Not Confirmed

Parcel is the first line. Confirm whether the driveway sits inside the City of Winterset or on Madison County land around a span. Confirm that it is not a Des Moines card, not a Pella card, and not an Adel card. Adel returned 404. Indianola returned 404. Norwalk returned 404. A tile that names the wrong town teaches the guest the wrong overnight. A tile that names Des Moines as the pin teaches the guest the wrong region. Des Moines is the drive, not this driveway. 404 is the year warning, not a missing hall.

Do not advertise a city path on a county driveway. Do not advertise a county hall that does not sell the license you named. Do not advertise Pella dollars on a Winterset pillow.DIY versus hirecan wait until the hall has spoken. Confirm parcel, then confirm the hall, then write the stay. Court clerk (515) 462-4451 stays off the advertisement. Tourism (515) 462-1185 stays off the permit line. Name Roseman, Holliwell, and Cedar only if the driveway can reach them. Do not invent the other three names.

A live tile that already named the wrong city should come down until the hall and the remittance path match the driveway. Do not send the host to a Des Moines license page. That hall does not own this square. One wrong municipality on the tile is enough. Read the tax map. Then dial (515) 462-1422 or (515) 462-3914. Do not dial a mash. Do not quote a neighbor extract until the map has named a town. Unknown n can wait. The clerk cannot. Identification first. Then the walk. Then the weekend you can date.

Iowa Hotel Tax Is Not Land-Use Permission

Bring the parcel number, the street address, and a simple statement of use: entire home or not, nights you intend to advertise, and whether you already have a live tile. Bring the platform URL if it exists. Bring proof of ownership or authorization. Bring a floor plan only if the hall asks. Do not bring a blended Pella T12. Do not bring six bridges or museum attendance as zoning evidence. Do not bring a minted Winterset year. Winterset is 404. Do not bring unknown n as proof of city limits.

For City Hall at (515) 462-1422, ask whether the parcel is inside city limits and what 2026 still requires, including remittance. For Auditor Michele Brant at (515) 462-3914, ask the same identity questions on county land and what remittance 2026 still requires. Do not ask the court clerk at (515) 462-4451 for a license. Do not ask tourism at (515) 462-1185 for a permit.Startup costsalready said do not invent a furnish number. Copy is cheaper to rewrite than a listing that never had a clerk.

Leave with a name, a date, and the next form. If the county says a dedicated STR window is not on the desk, write that down and still confirm remittance. If the hall says confirm in writing, wait for the writing. The modest unmeasured overnight starts at the counter, not at the festival booth. Write the answer into the listing packet the same day. A remembered phone call is not a 2026 confirmation. If city and county both claim the parcel, stop and get the tax map in writing before either tile or note moves. Identification first. Extract second, and the extract is 404. Then the phone that matches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is city hall?

Court Ave., Winterset, IA 50273. Hours have sat Monday through Friday 8 to 4:30. Hours have sat Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. Hours have sat Monday through Friday, 8 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon. Hours have sat 8:00am to 4:30pm weekdays. Do not carry a court file into City Hall as if it proved a license.

Who is the auditor?

John Wayne Drive, PO Box 152. The Auditor sits on John Wayne Drive. John Wayne Drive and answers at (515) 462-4451. Do not treat John Wayne Drive as 124 W. John Wayne Drive, PO Box 152, Winterset, IA 50273. Confirm whether the driveway sits inside the City of Winterset or on Madison County land around a span.

Is the court clerk a license window?

Court clerk (515) 462-4451 is court records, not a license window. Do not ask the court clerk at (515) 462-4451 for a license. Court clerk (515) 462-4451 is still not the window. Court clerk (515) 462-4451 stays off the advertisement. The license window, if one exists, is still unconfirmed. Do not file court records as a license.

Is tourism a clerk's office?

Tourism at is the festival line, not a clerk's office. Tourism (515) 462-1185 stays off the permit line. Do not ask tourism at (515) 462-1185 for a permit.Startup costsalready said do not invent a furnish number. This clerk page keeps the tourism phone off the permit line. This clerk page only refuses to let a court phone pick the overnight.

Is there a confirmed STR permit?

Dedicated STR ordinance is not confirmed. Dedicated city STR ordinance is not confirmed this pass. Dedicated STR ordinance is not confirmed this pass. It is not confirmed as the office that licenses short-term rentals this pass. Ask the hall whether the parcel sits inside city limits, what remittance path 2026 still requires, and whether any dedicated short-stay paper exists at all.

Is hotel tax a permit?

Iowa hotel and motel tax remittance is not a land-use permit. Iowa hotel tax is remittance, not a permit. It cannot stand in for Iowa hotel tax remittance. For Auditor Michele Brant at (515) 462-3914, ask the same identity questions on county land and what remittance 2026 still requires. For City Hall at (515) 462-1422, ask whether the parcel is inside city limits and what 2026 still requires, including remittance.

Does Des Moines paper apply?

Des Moines is about thirty-five minutes on IA-92. It does not assign this hall. Des Moines is a third city thirty-five minutes away and is not this hall. Winterset, Iowa sits in Madison County, about thirty-five minutes southwest of Des Moines via IA-92. City of Winterset and Madison County do not share a clerk with Des Moines.

Did Winterset print a year?

Pella $20,593 stays labeled. Do not bring a minted Winterset year. Do not bring a blended Pella T12. Do not advertise Pella dollars on a Winterset pillow.DIY versus hirecan wait until the hall has spoken. If the hall says confirm in writing, wait for the writing. confirm at City Hall if the map says city limits.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Stop asking the court clerk or the tourism line to bless a short-term use.

Bring the tax map. We will walk 124 W. Court or 112 N. John Wayne Drive and we will not invent a permit. Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.