City

Gruver

$2,670 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($31.66 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$660 a yearof that goes to the city ($7.89 per $1,000)

$77,167property taxes the city levies, FY27

$134,679city 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.

Anthony HansonGruver Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Brent J BaddeleyGruver City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Brett GremsGruver City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Fred KnaackGruver City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Rick WolfeGruver City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Wesley BaddeleyGruver City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Brent BaddeleyGruver City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Rick F. WolfeGruver 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 Gruver

Homes and businesses in most of Gruver pay a combined $31.66 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Emmet County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $7.89. Estimate your bill.

Estherville Lincoln Central schools$15.3949%
City of Gruver$7.8925%
Emmet County$6.1619%
Iowa Lakes Community College$1.274%
Emmet County Assessor$0.652%
Emmet County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.30<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$32.58	$8.10
FY21	$32.61	$8.10
FY22	$32.03	$8.10
FY23	$31.77	$8.10
FY24	$31.87	$8.10
FY25	$30.81	$7.86
FY26	$31.75	$8.10
FY27	$31.66	$7.89

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$32.58	$8.10
FY21	$32.61	$8.10
FY22	$32.03	$8.10
FY23	$31.77	$8.10
FY24	$31.87	$8.10
FY25	$30.81	$7.86
FY26	$31.75	$8.10
FY27	$31.66	$7.89

Compared with places this size³

Gruver’s city property tax rate of $7.89 per $1,000 is the 30th lowest of 75 Iowa cities with 40–90 people. The middle of the group is $8.10.

See all 75

#	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	Morley	$11.74	94
19	Matlock	$11.44	74
20	Nodaway	$11.20	74
21	Promise City	$11.13	91
22	Hayesville	$11.13	43
23	Plover	$11.10	52
24	Numa	$10.80	69
25	Oto	$10.45	71
26	Bradgate	$10.37	76
27	Guernsey	$10.13	59
28	Rathbun	$9.96	44
29	Hartwick	$9.90	91
30	Gray	$9.85	62
31	Webster	$9.55	94
32	Nemaha	$9.53	65
33	Kirkman	$9.44	60
34	Wiota	$9.32	91
35	Knierim	$8.13	53
36	Unionville	$8.10	74
37	Carpenter	$8.10	92
38	Orchard	$8.10	64
39	Turin	$8.10	69
40	Struble	$8.10	72
41	Shannon City	$8.10	73
42	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
43	Clio	$8.10	67
44	Scarville	$8.10	75
45	Buckeye	$7.94	82
46	Gruver	$7.89	63
47	Marysville	$7.89	46
48	Redding	$7.86	64
49	Bassett	$7.86	42
50	Oyens	$7.86	88
51	Ralston	$7.86	76
52	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
53	Kinross	$7.57	80
54	Thornburg	$7.57	46
55	Bevington	$7.41	62
56	Thayer	$7.39	48
57	Garber	$7.35	76
58	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
59	Greenville	$7.24	69
60	Spragueville	$7.20	92
61	Craig	$7.01	78
62	Zwingle	$6.93	86
63	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
64	Willey	$6.69	72
65	Rossie	$6.32	46
66	Tennant	$6.29	83
67	Sandyville	$6.06	59
68	Clayton	$5.08	45
69	Plano	$4.66	57
70	Hardy	$4.36	55
71	Beaver	$2.71	46
72	Graf	$2.56	76
73	Osterdock	$2.44	45
74	Gibson	$1.88	58
75	Balltown	$0.12	78

The $8.10 limit

Gruver’s general levy is $7.89 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.21 below the limit.⁴ 524 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

$8.10

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $7.86 · FY26 $8.10 · FY27 $7.89 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

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$77,167100%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Gruver’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 75 Iowa cities closest in size (40–90 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (75)
Public Safety	48¢	10¢
General Government	25¢	35¢
Public Works	22¢	35¢
Culture and Recreation	5¢	6¢

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$51,84538%
Public Safety$44,75933%
Public Works$30,90123%
Culture and Recreation$7,1745%

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$22,695	$22,730
Public Safety	$34,925	$74,475
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$29,850	$36,081
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$5,580	$1,685
Community and Economic Development	$0	$0
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$10,250	$0

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁵

$193,587

$113,879

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? ⁶

What the state pays the city every year

Road Use Tax for streets, the commercial and industrial tax “backfill”, and ambulance reimbursement, paid every year by formula: $8,520 in FY25, down 28% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 43% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$39,134	$8,492	$8,475	$8,520

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−43%$11,852 → $8,520, down 28% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 43% 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 down 1% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 21% less.

$9,699

$7,747

Federal grants, for comparison: $3,273 in FY25.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Gruver City Council At-Large

5 seats: the top 5 win.

Brett Grems Winner1521.7%
Brent J Baddeley Winner1521.7%
Wesley Baddeley Winner1420.3%
Fred Knaack Winner1318.8%
Rick Wolfe Winner1217.4%

Gruver Mayor

Anthony Hanson Unopposed15100.0%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁷

David D. Rowley (Sen. 5)Henry Stone (Rep. 9)

U.S. House:District 4

Emmet County Estherville Lincoln Central 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. ↩
Iowa Code section 384.1, as changed by House File 718 (2023). Until FY25 a city’s regular general levy was capped at $8.10 by itself, and a city at the cap could add an emergency levy of up to $0.27. From FY25 the general levy and several smaller levies were combined into one “consolidated” general levy with an $8.10 limit; a city whose combined rate was above $8.10 lowers it in steps, in years its taxable value grows by more than the law allows, until it reaches $8.10. So years before FY25 aren’t directly comparable with later ones. ↩
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 Gruver; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Gruver 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.