City

Gray

$2,630 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($31.23 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$830 a yearof that goes to the city ($9.85 per $1,000)

$15,031property taxes the city levies, FY27

$13,045city budget, FY27, without city-run utilities (not yet reported)²

Who runs it

The city council passes ordinances, adopts the budget and sets the city’s property tax.

Bryan OlsonGray Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Cassie WendlGray City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Jake OlsonGray City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Bill CramerGray City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Judy OlsonGray City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Penny SchmidtGray City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023

Officials are worked out from election results: every member whose four-year term is still running, plus appointments and titles Iowa Funnel has been told about. A resignation may not show yet.

Meetings and agendas

What the council is deciding: each agenda, the resolutions and ordinances on it, and a plain-language summary.

Iowa Funnel doesn’t read this city’s agendas yet. Every council and board posts its agenda at least 24 hours before it meets.

Property taxes

How the bill is collected · What each levy is for

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Gray

Homes and businesses in most of Gray pay a combined $31.23 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Audubon County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $9.85. Estimate your bill.

Audubon schools$11.2636%
City of Gray$9.8532%
Audubon County$5.8519%
Audubon County Hospital$2.508%
Des Moines Area Community College$0.813%
Audubon County Assessor$0.672%
Audubon County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.29<1%

Rates over time

Per $1,000 of taxable value: the typical combined rate people in Gray pay, and the city government’s own piece of it.

CombinedCity’s own

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$33.35	$11.33
FY21	$33.16	$11.20
FY22	–	$11.39
FY23	–	$11.04
FY24	$34.13	$11.14
FY25	–	$10.28
FY26	$32.37	$10.13
FY27	$31.23	$9.85

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$33.35	$11.33
FY21	$33.16	$11.20
FY22	–	$11.39
FY23	–	$11.04
FY24	$34.13	$11.14
FY25	–	$10.28
FY26	$32.37	$10.13
FY27	$31.23	$9.85

Compared with places this size³

Gray’s city property tax rate of $9.85 per $1,000 is the 29th highest of 73 Iowa cities with 40–90 people. The middle of the group is $8.10.

See all 73

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Dougherty	$25.38	61
2	Hansell	$23.66	85
3	Stanley	$20.69	86
4	Varina	$19.09	69
5	Sharpsburg	$18.93	69
6	Grant	$18.71	82
7	Derby	$18.13	89
8	Vining	$16.97	53
9	Northboro	$15.81	52
10	Popejoy	$15.80	76
11	Truesdale	$14.56	64
12	Yorktown	$14.48	60
13	Rodney	$13.04	43
14	Cylinder	$12.52	84
15	Aredale	$12.19	59
16	Colwell	$12.14	52
17	Dolliver	$11.85	63
18	Matlock	$11.44	74
19	Nodaway	$11.20	74
20	Promise City	$11.13	91
21	Hayesville	$11.13	43
22	Plover	$11.10	52
23	Numa	$10.80	69
24	Oto	$10.45	71
25	Bradgate	$10.37	76
26	Guernsey	$10.13	59
27	Rathbun	$9.96	44
28	Hartwick	$9.90	91
29	Gray	$9.85	62
30	Nemaha	$9.53	65
31	Kirkman	$9.44	60
32	Wiota	$9.32	91
33	Knierim	$8.13	53
34	Unionville	$8.10	74
35	Carpenter	$8.10	92
36	Orchard	$8.10	64
37	Turin	$8.10	69
38	Struble	$8.10	72
39	Shannon City	$8.10	73
40	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
41	Clio	$8.10	67
42	Scarville	$8.10	75
43	Buckeye	$7.94	82
44	Gruver	$7.89	63
45	Marysville	$7.89	46
46	Redding	$7.86	64
47	Bassett	$7.86	42
48	Oyens	$7.86	88
49	Ralston	$7.86	76
50	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
51	Kinross	$7.57	80
52	Thornburg	$7.57	46
53	Bevington	$7.41	62
54	Thayer	$7.39	48
55	Garber	$7.35	76
56	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
57	Greenville	$7.24	69
58	Spragueville	$7.20	92
59	Craig	$7.01	78
60	Zwingle	$6.93	86
61	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
62	Willey	$6.69	72
63	Rossie	$6.32	46
64	Tennant	$6.29	83
65	Sandyville	$6.06	59
66	Clayton	$5.08	45
67	Plano	$4.66	57
68	Hardy	$4.36	55
69	Beaver	$2.71	46
70	Graf	$2.56	76
71	Osterdock	$2.44	45
72	Gibson	$1.88	58
73	Balltown	$0.12	78

The city’s levies, FY27

What the city raises from each levy. The general levy is capped by state law; the others are set aside for one purpose.

Consolidate General Fund$9,71378%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$1,97116%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$7396%
Aviation Authority (under sec.330A.15)$1081%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Gray’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending from all funds, including city-run utilities like water and sewer (“business type”), which some cities run and others don’t. Transfers between funds are left out. “Cities this size” is the average for the 73 Iowa cities closest in size (40–90 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (73)
General Government	62¢	35¢
Culture and Recreation	15¢	6¢
Public Safety	11¢	10¢
Public Works	9¢	35¢
Community and Economic Development	2¢	3¢

Planned spending, FY27

All funds: property taxes, utility and other fees, state and federal money. “Business type” is city-run utilities and enterprises like water or sewer.

General Government$8,13062%
Culture and Recreation$2,00015%
Public Safety$1,41511%
Public Works$1,2009%
Community and Economic Development$3002%

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$21,100	$28,188
Public Safety	$1,425	$1,425
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$10,380	$10,380
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$1,000	$1,000
Community and Economic Development	$1,700	$1,700
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$6,800	$6,800

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁴

$49,493

$12,995

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’25

State money

What the State of Iowa pays the city each year, and whether it has kept up with prices. Does state money keep pace? ⁵

What the state pays the city

$4,783 in FY25: up 4% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 17% less. Road Use Tax, the money for streets the state sends every year by formula, is up 4% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 17% less; grants come and go.

In today's dollarsActual dollars

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$4,648	$4,783	$4,902	$4,783

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$4,648	$4,783	$4,902	$4,783

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−17%$4,588 → $4,783, up 4% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 17% less

Collected by the state for the city

The local option sales tax is a city tax voters approved; the state collects it with the state sales tax and sends it back. It isn’t state aid. It’s up 21% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 3% less.

$7,879

$6,000

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Gray City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Jake Olson Winner770.0%
Cassie Wendl Winner330.0%

Gray Mayor

Bryan Olson Unopposed6100.0%

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Gray; official results are on each county auditor’s site.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁶

Jason Schultz (Sen. 6)Craig Steven Williams (Rep. 11)

U.S. House:District 4

Audubon County Audubon schools

Notes

For a $200,000 home with the homestead credit, at the combined rate in most of the city. Some parts of the city pay a different rate (special districts, tax increment financing districts). ↩
Cities adopt their budgets each spring for the year starting July 1. ↩
FY27 rates from the Department of Management. A higher rate isn’t always a bigger bill: it depends on how much property there is to tax. Sizes: Census Bureau 2024 estimates. ↩
The state’s FY24 spending file repeats the year before for nearly every Iowa city, so that year isn’t shown. ↩
From the city’s annual financial reports to the state (Iowa Data Hub, city actual revenues). “Today’s dollars” adjusts each year by the consumer price index for the Midwest, so a flat line in today’s dollars means the money buys the same as before. ↩
Legislative and congressional districts that cover Gray; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Gray works within. ↩

Sources: City budgets and levies from the Department of Management; tax rates from the Iowa Data Hub; state payments from the Department of Revenue; prices from the consumer price index; legislative districts from Census Bureau maps.