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Local taxes › Humboldt County › Dakota City

City

Dakota City

Humboldt County · How cities work

$2,730 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($32.36 per $1,000 of taxable value)1
$960 a yearof that goes to the city ($11.39 per $1,000)
$271,428property taxes the city levies, FY27
$525,501city 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.

  • Mychal EdlerDakota City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
  • Sean PhillipsDakota City Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
  • Tim MyersDakota City City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
  • Jon SternDakota City City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
  • Ross NewtonDakota City City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
  • Samantha PalsDakota City 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 Dakota City

Homes and businesses in most of Dakota City pay a combined $32.36 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Humboldt County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $11.39. Estimate your bill.

Rates over time

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

YearCombinedCity’s own
FY20$31.90$11.09
FY21$31.25$10.54
FY22$31.65$10.50
FY23$31.86$10.47
FY24$32.27$10.68
FY25$33.31$11.18
FY26$32.96$11.30
FY27$32.36$11.39
Show the numbers
YearCombinedCity’s own
FY20$31.90$11.09
FY21$31.25$10.54
FY22$31.65$10.50
FY23$31.86$10.47
FY24$32.27$10.68
FY25$33.31$11.18
FY26$32.96$11.30
FY27$32.36$11.39

Compared with places this size3

Dakota City’s city property tax rate of $11.39 per $1,000 is the 59th lowest of 183 Iowa cities with 510–1,100 people. The middle of the group is $12.85.

Exira: $24.81Dayton: $22.51Charter Oak: $21.32Correctionville: $19.84Villisca: $19.74Pomeroy: $19.60Allison: $19.06Dumont: $19.04Seymour: $18.78Dexter: $18.69Fonda: $18.52Kanawha: $18.11Swea City: $18.04Greene: $17.91Alden: $17.90New Hartford: $17.69Lansing: $17.67Strawberry Point: $17.58Rockwell: $17.54Walnut: $17.46Murray: $17.44Gowrie: $17.17Colo: $17.14Mapleton: $16.90George: $16.89Adair: $16.84Eddyville: $16.82Elk Horn: $16.78Oxford: $16.70Buffalo Center: $16.58Bancroft: $16.52Eldon: $16.42Early: $16.35Truro: $16.34Aplington: $16.34Panora: $16.14Mechanicsville: $16.12Armstrong: $15.87Ruthven: $15.84Minden: $15.77Walker: $15.74Newell: $15.49Riceville: $15.31Neola: $15.30Sidney: $15.19Gilbertville: $15.15Stanwood: $15.12Stratford: $15.03Griswold: $15.01Readlyn: $14.99Wyoming: $14.81Hopkinton: $14.79Essex: $14.76Dunlap: $14.56Garnavillo: $14.52Maxwell: $14.50Clermont: $14.30Moulton: $14.25Mcgregor: $14.20Olin: $14.19Primghar: $14.18Sheffield: $14.16Elgin: $14.05Ossian: $13.88Redfield: $13.73Victor: $13.72Edgewood: $13.64Sioux Rapids: $13.63Donnellson: $13.63Gladbrook: $13.58Rockford: $13.52Janesville: $13.43Glidden: $13.43Calmar: $13.39Boyden: $13.39Baxter: $13.32Anita: $13.28Van Horne: $13.27Conrad: $13.23Keota: $13.21Shellsburg: $13.20De Soto: $13.18Quasqueton: $13.12Farmington: $13.10Anthon: $13.05Treynor: $13.03Odebolt: $13.00Coggon: $12.99Earlville: $12.90Brighton: $12.88Danville: $12.87Underwood: $12.85Malvern: $12.79Montrose: $12.78Goldfield: $12.73Wellsburg: $12.68Delmar: $12.68Badger: $12.67Stanton: $12.62Hospers: $12.58Everly: $12.51Hazleton: $12.48West Point: $12.39Hinton: $12.38Preston: $12.38Alburnett: $12.30Hubbard: $12.30Moravia: $12.27Hedrick: $12.22Carson: $12.22Wheatland: $12.18Schaller: $12.14Winfield: $12.04Elkhart: $12.00Afton: $11.96Lowden: $11.93Tabor: $11.88Albert City: $11.88Aurelia: $11.84Merrill: $11.64Morning Sun: $11.50Battle Creek: $11.49Wall Lake: $11.43West Bend: $11.42Marcus: $11.31Dunkerton: $11.30Sutherland: $11.25Arcadia: $11.23Whiting: $11.21Shelby: $11.17Blairstown: $11.04Manilla: $11.01Hamburg: $10.95Clarence: $10.94Ireton: $10.93Fontanelle: $10.88Richland: $10.82Grand Mound: $10.78Cambridge: $10.53Swisher: $10.39Schleswig: $10.39Melbourne: $10.38Radcliffe: $10.37Elk Run Heights: $10.33Fredericksburg: $10.27Ventura: $10.22Inwood: $10.22Milo: $10.20Hartford: $10.16What Cheer: $10.01Newhall: $9.99Cumming: $9.85Graettinger: $9.81Doon: $9.78Long Grove: $9.59Lake View: $9.39Paullina: $9.21Fairbank: $9.00Winthrop: $8.94Crescent: $8.72Ainsworth: $8.62Keosauqua: $8.58Grand Junction: $8.57Princeton: $8.24Gilman: $8.10Kellogg: $8.10Lakeside: $8.10Riverside: $8.02Agency: $7.94Hills: $7.94Fremont: $7.86Larchwood: $7.52North English: $7.49Sloan: $7.49Sully: $7.41Fruitland: $7.21Lawton: $7.10Wayland: $7.07Raymond: $6.85Keystone: $6.80Shueyville: $6.79Okoboji: $3.83Dakota City: $11.39$3.83 lowest$24.81 highestmiddle
See all 183
#PlaceRate per $1,000People
1Exira$24.81766
2Dayton$22.51766
3Charter Oak$21.32521
4Correctionville$19.84759
5Villisca$19.741,106
6Pomeroy$19.60511
7Allison$19.06937
8Dumont$19.04614
9Seymour$18.78646
10Dexter$18.69631
11Fonda$18.52636
12Kanawha$18.11638
13Swea City$18.04545
14Greene$17.91971
15Alden$17.90738
16New Hartford$17.69555
17Lansing$17.67959
18Strawberry Point$17.581,141
19Rockwell$17.541,044
20Walnut$17.46728
21Murray$17.44609
22Gowrie$17.17943
23Colo$17.14856
24Mapleton$16.901,114
25George$16.891,106
26Adair$16.84792
27Eddyville$16.82965
28Elk Horn$16.78631
29Oxford$16.70715
30Buffalo Center$16.58839
31Bancroft$16.52677
32Eldon$16.42788
33Early$16.35571
34Truro$16.34515
35Aplington$16.341,088
36Panora$16.141,096
37Mechanicsville$16.12974
38Armstrong$15.87847
39Ruthven$15.84710
40Minden$15.77581
41Walker$15.74671
42Newell$15.49850
43Riceville$15.31807
44Neola$15.30917
45Sidney$15.191,048
46Gilbertville$15.15792
47Stanwood$15.12612
48Stratford$15.03688
49Griswold$15.01975
50Readlyn$14.99857
51Wyoming$14.81526
52Hopkinton$14.79622
53Essex$14.76721
54Dunlap$14.561,030
55Garnavillo$14.52751
56Maxwell$14.50862
57Clermont$14.30571
58Moulton$14.25596
59Mcgregor$14.20725
60Olin$14.19652
61Primghar$14.18893
62Sheffield$14.161,123
63Elgin$14.05676
64Ossian$13.88777
65Redfield$13.73719
66Victor$13.72852
67Edgewood$13.64908
68Sioux Rapids$13.63722
69Donnellson$13.63859
70Gladbrook$13.58775
71Rockford$13.52722
72Janesville$13.431,052
73Glidden$13.431,140
74Calmar$13.391,100
75Boyden$13.39694
76Baxter$13.32983
77Anita$13.28953
78Van Horne$13.27768
79Conrad$13.231,098
80Keota$13.21888
81Shellsburg$13.20987
82De Soto$13.18937
83Quasqueton$13.12587
84Farmington$13.10583
85Anthon$13.05534
86Treynor$13.031,104
87Odebolt$13.00967
88Coggon$12.99691
89Earlville$12.90713
90Brighton$12.88592
91Danville$12.87910
92Underwood$12.85973
93Malvern$12.791,056
94Montrose$12.78734
95Goldfield$12.73617
96Wellsburg$12.68709
97Delmar$12.68541
98Badger$12.67540
99Stanton$12.62664
100Hospers$12.58703
101Everly$12.51570
102Hazleton$12.48711
103West Point$12.39903
104Hinton$12.38959
105Preston$12.38940
106Alburnett$12.30672
107Hubbard$12.30837
108Moravia$12.27625
109Hedrick$12.22717
110Carson$12.22772
111Wheatland$12.18765
112Schaller$12.14702
113Winfield$12.041,006
114Elkhart$12.001,079
115Afton$11.96864
116Lowden$11.93767
117Tabor$11.88983
118Albert City$11.88627
119Aurelia$11.84970
120Merrill$11.64713
121Morning Sun$11.50702
122Battle Creek$11.49683
123Wall Lake$11.43739
124West Bend$11.42770
125Dakota City$11.39764
126Marcus$11.311,069
127Dunkerton$11.30840
128Sutherland$11.25628
129Arcadia$11.23588
130Whiting$11.21725
131Shelby$11.17730
132Blairstown$11.04705
133Manilla$11.01756
134Hamburg$10.95863
135Clarence$10.94991
136Ireton$10.93571
137Fontanelle$10.88684
138Richland$10.82532
139Grand Mound$10.78608
140Cambridge$10.53844
141Swisher$10.39909
142Schleswig$10.39820
143Melbourne$10.38771
144Radcliffe$10.37540
145Elk Run Heights$10.331,061
146Fredericksburg$10.27983
147Ventura$10.22701
148Inwood$10.22962
149Milo$10.20762
150Hartford$10.16729
151What Cheer$10.01595
152Newhall$9.99887
153Cumming$9.85527
154Graettinger$9.81810
155Doon$9.78640
156Long Grove$9.59849
157Lake View$9.391,120
158Paullina$9.21979
159Fairbank$9.001,133
160Winthrop$8.94814
161Crescent$8.72626
162Ainsworth$8.62511
163Keosauqua$8.58944
164Grand Junction$8.57715
165Princeton$8.24917
166Gilman$8.10530
167Kellogg$8.10597
168Lakeside$8.10695
169Riverside$8.021,063
170Agency$7.94623
171Hills$7.94911
172Fremont$7.86688
173Larchwood$7.52954
174North English$7.491,030
175Sloan$7.491,078
176Sully$7.41891
177Fruitland$7.21928
178Lawton$7.10949
179Wayland$7.07935
180Raymond$6.85754
181Keystone$6.80616
182Shueyville$6.79725
183Okoboji$3.83729

The $8.10 limit

Dakota City’s general levy is $8.12 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.02 above the limit; it has to come down in steps.4 240 of 934 Iowa cities have a higher general levy. All cities.

FY23 $8.10 · FY24 $8.10 · FY25 $8.37 · FY26 $8.29 · FY27 $8.12 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $3.27 more5

  • Total Employee Benefit Levies$1.57 · $37,419
  • Liability, property & self insurance costs$1.24 · $29,507
  • Unified Law Enforcement$0.46 · $10,825

Tax increment financing (TIF)

$1.5M of taxable value in Dakota City is in TIF districts’ increment (6% of the city’s taxable value), 2025 valuations, taxed in FY27.6 It budgeted $47,293 in TIF revenue for FY25.

$42,744

What that value would raise at each government’s rate, FY277

Taxes on TIF value go to the city’s TIF fund instead of the governments that levy them, including about $17,274 of the city’s own.

  • Humboldt County$8,241
YearTIF revenue
FY19$24,783
FY20$26,075
FY21$30,690
FY22$32,839
FY23$42,744
Show the numbers
YearTIF revenue
FY19$24,783
FY20$26,075
FY21$30,690
FY22$32,839
FY23$42,744

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$193,26871%
  • Total Employee Benefit Levies$37,41914%
  • Liability, property & self insurance costs$29,50711%
  • Unified Law Enforcement$10,8254%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Dakota City’s budget goes, FY26

Business Type / Enterprise: 52¢ of every dollar52¢Public Works: 27¢ of every dollar27¢General Government: 12¢ of every dollar12¢Culture and Recreation: 4¢ of every dollarPublic Safety: 3¢ of every dollarEverything else: 2¢ of every dollar

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 182 Iowa cities closest in size (510–1,100 people).

Where it goesOf each dollarCities this size (182)
Business Type / Enterprise52¢40¢
Public Works27¢16¢
General Government12¢10¢
Culture and Recreation4¢9¢
Public Safety3¢9¢
Everything else2¢2¢

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.

  • Public Works$264,41450%
  • General Government$145,51328%
  • Culture and Recreation$48,1539%
  • Public Safety$37,5817%
  • Health and Social Services$22,6904%
  • Community and Economic Development$7,1501%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($601,784 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23
FunctionBudgetSpent
Public Works$211,622$230,080
Public Safety$28,523$27,990
Health and Social Services$18,350$18,299
General Government$112,168$96,896
Debt Service$27,666$27,656
Culture and Recreation$43,506$42,302
Community and Economic Development$7,300$9,568
Capital Projects$0$4,863
Business Type / Enterprise$679,794$666,517

What it spent each year

FY24 left out8

$1.7M
$1.3M

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Dakota City owes

$1.2M at June 30, 2026: $1,538 per resident. 455th most per resident of 939 Iowa places of its kind (the list).9

$2.0M
$1.2M
June 30OwedPer resident
2026$1.2M$1,538
2025$1.3M$1,671
2024$1.4M$1,848
2023$1.6M$2,059
2022$1.7M$2,303
2021$1.8M$2,318
2020$1.6M$2,144
2019$1.5M$1,992
2018$1.6M$2,146
2017$1.9M$2,438
2016$1.9M$2,438
2015$2.0M$2,636
2014$1.9M$2,447
2013$1.3M$1,747
2012$1.3M$1,747
2011$46,527$61
2010$104,891$138
Show the numbers
June 30OwedPer resident
2026$1.2M$1,538
2025$1.3M$1,671
2024$1.4M$1,848
2023$1.6M$2,059
2022$1.7M$2,303
2021$1.8M$2,318
2020$1.6M$2,144
2019$1.5M$1,992
2018$1.6M$2,146
2017$1.9M$2,438
2016$1.9M$2,438
2015$2.0M$2,636
2014$1.9M$2,447
2013$1.3M$1,747
2012$1.3M$1,747
2011$46,527$61
2010$104,891$138

Up 1013% since 2010.

Money in reserve

The state’s budget files don’t include cities’ fund balances10. Dakota City’s latest audit has them: Annual Examination, period ending Monday, June 30, 2025 (PDF).

Audits11

The latest: Annual Examination for the period ending Monday, June 30, 2025 (PDF), released Tuesday, December 23, 2025, by a CPA firm.

10 earlier reports for Dakota City

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? 12

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: $107,793 in FY25, down 2% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 22% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers
SourceFY22FY23FY24FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)$107,014$104,447$107,211$107,793

Grants and project money

State grants and money for specific projects (roads, development, natural resources) vary with what the city applies for and wins, so they aren’t counted as the state’s regular support.

$63,759
  • State grants$63,759100%
YearGrants and projects
FY19$0
FY20$0
FY21$0
FY22$0
FY23$0
FY24$0
FY25$63,759
Show the numbers
YearGrants and projects
FY19$0
FY20$0
FY21$0
FY22$0
FY23$0
FY24$0
FY25$63,759

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

  • Road Use Tax (streets)−22%$110,243 → $107,793, down 2% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 22% 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 26% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 1% more.

$117,515
$108,049

Federal grants, for comparison: $61,678 in FY23.

Business awards

Every award statewide

Elections

Running for mayor and city council

Filing opens Monday, August 23, 2027: in 285 days.

For the Tuesday, November 2, 2027 election, candidates file Monday, August 23, 2027 to Thursday, September 16, 2027 with the county auditor (or the city clerk, if the auditor names the clerk to take them)13.

In a city that can hold a primary, filing runs Monday, August 9, 2027 to Thursday, August 26, 2027.

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

2 seats: the top 2 win.

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

Who has filed for Tuesday, November 2, 2027

Filing hasn’t opened. These seats are expected on the ballot.

  • Dakota City City Council At-Large (3 seats)
    Now held by Ross Newton, Jon Stern, Samantha Pals
  • Dakota City Mayor
    Now held by Sean Phillips

Candidates as county auditors and civicAPI list them; a filing can take a few days to appear here14.

Past ballot measures

None found since 2022.

When a measure can be on the ballot

  • Tuesday, March 2, 2027 · no bond or debt questions
  • Tuesday, September 14, 2027 · no bond or debt questions
  • Tuesday, November 2, 2027 · any question, including bonds
  • Tuesday, March 7, 2028 · no bond or debt questions

Bonds and other borrowing can only go on the November ballot15.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress16

Dennis Guth (Sen. 28)Mark I. Thompson (Rep. 56)

U.S. House:District 4

Humboldt CountyHumboldt schools