City

Hardy

$2,130 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($25.33 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$370 a yearof that goes to the city ($4.36 per $1,000)

$50,627property taxes the city levies, FY27

$53,400city 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.

Kathy PetersenHardy Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Ronald CerwickHardy City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Teri CerwickHardy City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Austin ThompsonHardy City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Madison TuttleHardy City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Tammie TuttleHardy 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 Hardy

Homes and businesses in most of Hardy pay a combined $25.33 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, $4.36. Estimate your bill.

Humboldt schools$11.7746%
Humboldt County$5.7423%
City of Hardy$4.3617%
Iowa Central Community College$1.576%
Humboldt County Memorial Hospital$0.873%
Humboldt County Assessor$0.723%
Humboldt County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.301%

Rates over time

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

CombinedCity’s own

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$28.91	$8.10
FY21	$27.58	$6.87
FY22	$26.62	$5.48
FY23	$26.31	$4.92
FY24	$26.59	$5.00
FY25	$26.84	$4.71
FY26	$26.20	$4.54
FY27	$25.33	$4.36

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$28.91	$8.10
FY21	$27.58	$6.87
FY22	$26.62	$5.48
FY23	$26.31	$4.92
FY24	$26.59	$5.00
FY25	$26.84	$4.71
FY26	$26.20	$4.54
FY27	$25.33	$4.36

Compared with places this size³

Hardy’s city property tax rate of $4.36 per $1,000 is the 7th lowest of 69 Iowa cities with 40–80 people. The middle of the group is $8.10.

See all 69

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Dougherty	$25.38	61
2	Varina	$19.09	69
3	Sharpsburg	$18.93	69
4	Grant	$18.71	82
5	Vining	$16.97	53
6	Northboro	$15.81	52
7	Popejoy	$15.80	76
8	Benton	$15.12	40
9	Truesdale	$14.56	64
10	Yorktown	$14.48	60
11	Rodney	$13.04	43
12	Rinard	$12.56	38
13	Aredale	$12.19	59
14	Colwell	$12.14	52
15	Dolliver	$11.85	63
16	Matlock	$11.44	74
17	Nodaway	$11.20	74
18	Hayesville	$11.13	43
19	Plover	$11.10	52
20	Curlew	$10.85	38
21	Numa	$10.80	69
22	Oto	$10.45	71
23	Bradgate	$10.37	76
24	Guernsey	$10.13	59
25	Rathbun	$9.96	44
26	Gray	$9.85	62
27	Nemaha	$9.53	65
28	Kirkman	$9.44	60
29	Ottosen	$9.10	41
30	Imogene	$9.10	37
31	Knierim	$8.13	53
32	Unionville	$8.10	74
33	Valeria	$8.10	41
34	Orchard	$8.10	64
35	Turin	$8.10	69
36	Struble	$8.10	72
37	Shannon City	$8.10	73
38	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
39	Clio	$8.10	67
40	Scarville	$8.10	75
41	Buckeye	$7.94	82
42	Gruver	$7.89	63
43	Marysville	$7.89	46
44	Redding	$7.86	64
45	Bassett	$7.86	42
46	Millerton	$7.86	37
47	Ralston	$7.86	76
48	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
49	Cotter	$7.73	40
50	Kinross	$7.57	80
51	Thornburg	$7.57	46
52	Bevington	$7.41	62
53	Thayer	$7.39	48
54	Garber	$7.35	76
55	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
56	Greenville	$7.24	69
57	Craig	$7.01	78
58	Willey	$6.69	72
59	Rossie	$6.32	46
60	Sandyville	$6.06	59
61	Clayton	$5.08	45
62	Plano	$4.66	57
63	Hardy	$4.36	55
64	Jackson Junction	$3.66	38
65	Beaver	$2.71	46
66	Graf	$2.56	76
67	Osterdock	$2.44	45
68	Gibson	$1.88	58
69	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$49,837100%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Hardy’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 69 Iowa cities closest in size (40–80 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (69)
General Government	42¢	35¢
Business Type / Enterprise	26¢	7¢
Public Works	19¢	37¢
Culture and Recreation	6¢	6¢
Public Safety	5¢	9¢
Everything else	2¢	<1¢

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$30,20057%
Public Works$13,20025%
Culture and Recreation$5,0009%
Public Safety$3,8007%
Health and Social Services$1,2002%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($18,000 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$13,200	$5,732
Public Safety	$3,600	$2,980
Health and Social Services	$1,200	$1,155
General Government	$28,800	$16,171
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$4,000	$2,149
Community and Economic Development	$0	$0
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$14,000	$16,734

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁴

$61,696

$46,649

’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 every year

Road Use Tax for streets, the commercial and industrial tax “backfill”, and ambulance reimbursement, paid every year by formula: $10,037 in FY25, up 66% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 32% more. Grants are below.

In today's dollarsActual dollars

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$7,437	$7,905	$6,200	$10,037

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)+32%$6,057 → $10,037, up 66% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 32% more

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Hardy City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Ronald Cerwick Winner1246.1%
Teri Cerwick Winner1142.3%
Douglas Lippolt 311.5%

Hardy Mayor

Kathy Petersen Unopposed12100.0%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁶

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

U.S. House:District 4

Humboldt County Humboldt 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 Hardy; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Hardy 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.