City

Rutland

$2,580 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($30.61 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$810 a yearof that goes to the city ($9.65 per $1,000)

$77,099property taxes the city levies, FY27

$97,279city 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.

Jerry DahlRutland City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Susan M. TilleRutland Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Ted MaloRutland City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Deb CoferRutland City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Lucas TilleRutland City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Shelly ReamesRutland 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 Rutland

Homes and businesses in most of Rutland pay a combined $30.61 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, $9.65. Estimate your bill.

Humboldt schools$11.7738%
City of Rutland$9.6532%
Humboldt County$5.7419%
Iowa Central Community College$1.575%
Humboldt County Memorial Hospital$0.873%
Humboldt County Assessor$0.722%
Humboldt County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.30<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$31.07	$10.26
FY21	$30.18	$9.47
FY22	$30.28	$9.13
FY23	$30.30	$8.91
FY24	$29.69	$8.10
FY25	$32.42	$10.29
FY26	$31.69	$10.03
FY27	$30.61	$9.65

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$31.07	$10.26
FY21	$30.18	$9.47
FY22	$30.28	$9.13
FY23	$30.30	$8.91
FY24	$29.69	$8.10
FY25	$32.42	$10.29
FY26	$31.69	$10.03
FY27	$30.61	$9.65

Compared with places this size³

Rutland’s city property tax rate of $9.65 per $1,000 is the 69th lowest of 143 Iowa cities with 80–170 people. The middle of the group is $9.90.

See all 143

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Castana	$34.13	103
2	Brayton	$25.07	138
3	Hansell	$23.66	85
4	Harris	$23.13	145
5	Whitten	$22.65	98
6	Stanley	$20.69	86
7	Coin	$19.59	171
8	Rowan	$19.53	118
9	Chester	$19.30	134
10	Bouton	$19.25	125
11	Ricketts	$19.22	105
12	Garden Grove	$19.20	173
13	Hastings	$18.95	157
14	Grant	$18.71	82
15	Swaledale	$18.62	136
16	Derby	$18.13	89
17	Hillsboro	$17.68	158
18	Bristow	$17.39	139
19	Woolstock	$17.26	141
20	Monmouth	$16.41	129
21	Blockton	$16.37	123
22	Geneva	$16.25	137
23	Waterville	$16.25	112
24	Little Sioux	$15.74	170
25	Woodburn	$15.59	133
26	Goodell	$15.16	139
27	Marne	$15.03	109
28	Baldwin	$14.91	99
29	Palmer	$13.89	137
30	Ayrshire	$13.55	128
31	Searsboro	$13.55	129
32	Ferguson	$13.53	98
33	Lanesboro	$13.53	112
34	Calumet	$13.16	144
35	Delaware	$12.86	139
36	Clemons	$12.69	135
37	Cylinder	$12.52	84
38	Millersburg	$12.40	135
39	Aurora	$12.40	165
40	Bridgewater	$12.29	145
41	Arion	$12.14	99
42	Webb	$12.10	139
43	Decatur	$12.08	174
44	Shambaugh	$11.98	161
45	Lone Rock	$11.92	143
46	East Peru	$11.89	119
47	Henderson	$11.85	140
48	Reasnor	$11.76	157
49	Morley	$11.74	94
50	Ledyard	$11.74	118
51	Toronto	$11.68	101
52	Exline	$11.60	157
53	Beaman	$11.54	155
54	College Springs	$11.44	172
55	Melrose	$11.27	110
56	Linn Grove	$11.15	155
57	Promise City	$11.13	91
58	Leighton	$11.07	153
59	Masonville	$11.00	98
60	Somers	$10.99	121
61	Havelock	$10.95	127
62	Alexander	$10.90	165
63	Lambs Grove	$10.78	174
64	Wallingford	$10.75	154
65	Pacific Junction	$10.56	99
66	Barnes City	$10.44	152
67	Stockton	$10.37	171
68	Randall	$10.35	156
69	Drakesville	$10.24	170
70	North Washington	$10.23	107
71	Dawson	$10.19	110
72	Hartwick	$9.90	91
73	Clare	$9.81	133
74	Tingley	$9.81	146
75	Rutland	$9.65	116
76	Rock Falls	$9.61	143
77	Kirkville	$9.59	159
78	Superior	$9.58	127
79	Webster	$9.55	94
80	Martinsburg	$9.49	109
81	Larrabee	$9.41	116
82	Hamilton	$9.35	125
83	Wiota	$9.32	91
84	Floris	$9.29	119
85	Mitchell	$9.22	118
86	Westphalia	$9.18	133
87	Prairieburg	$8.91	156
88	Welton	$8.86	124
89	Archer	$8.84	116
90	Luther	$8.83	147
91	Fraser	$8.81	107
92	Macksburg	$8.81	103
93	Moorland	$8.61	169
94	Pilot Mound	$8.54	155
95	Andover	$8.28	106
96	Thurman	$8.26	162
97	Rome	$8.10	112
98	Carpenter	$8.10	92
99	Westfield	$8.10	121
100	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
101	Vincent	$8.09	125
102	Buckeye	$7.94	82
103	Morrison	$7.86	101
104	Mount Auburn	$7.86	162
105	Haverhill	$7.86	164
106	Oyens	$7.86	88
107	Olds	$7.86	174
108	Dickens	$7.86	146
109	Castalia	$7.86	141
110	Rose Hill	$7.86	156
111	West Chester	$7.82	147
112	Cromwell	$7.81	104
113	Mcclelland	$7.79	147
114	Arispe	$7.71	95
115	Luzerne	$7.69	111
116	Lidderdale	$7.68	162
117	Westwood	$7.67	96
118	Kinross	$7.57	80
119	Bernard	$7.56	117
120	Braddyville	$7.49	142
121	Franklin	$7.31	133
122	Spragueville	$7.20	92
123	Weldon	$7.18	134
124	Craig	$7.01	78
125	Brunsville	$6.95	128
126	Zwingle	$6.93	86
127	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
128	Houghton	$6.73	129
129	Williamson	$6.72	126
130	Lincoln	$6.32	119
131	Tennant	$6.29	83
132	Gravity	$6.18	149
133	Ackworth	$5.90	117
134	Springbrook	$5.79	145
135	Maysville	$5.77	155
136	Harper	$5.29	117
137	Panorama Park	$4.62	142
138	Keomah Village	$3.15	107
139	Mcintire	$2.78	115
140	Centralia	$2.41	117
141	New Liberty	$2.27	141
142	North Buena Vista	$1.78	107
143	Balltown	$0.12	78

The $8.10 limit

Rutland’s general levy is $8.10 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, at the limit.⁴ 247 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 $8.10 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $1.55 more⁵

Liability, property & self insurance costs$1.15 · $8,922
Total Employee Benefit Levies$0.40 · $3,094

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$62,96684%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$8,92212%
Total Employee Benefit Levies$3,0944%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Rutland’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 144 Iowa cities closest in size (80–170 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (144)
General Government	39¢	26¢
Business Type / Enterprise	26¢	25¢
Public Works	20¢	27¢
Culture and Recreation	11¢	7¢
Public Safety	3¢	9¢

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$38,43740%
Public Works$28,74830%
Culture and Recreation$22,95524%
Public Safety$7,1397%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($48,510 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$28,000	$67,101
Public Safety	$5,500	$1,412
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$37,825	$42,857
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$14,000	$16,817
Community and Economic Development	$0	$0
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$25,000	$43,373

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁶

$312,808

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Rutland owes

No debt at June 30, 2026.⁷

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$0	$0
2025	$0	$0
2024	$0	$0
2023	$0	$0

Show the numbers

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$0	$0
2025	$0	$0
2024	$0	$0
2023	$0	$0

The 5% limit⁸

General obligation debt is $0, 0% of the limit of about $600,208 (5% of $12.0M, the full value of its taxable property in 2024).

Money in reserve

The state’s budget files don’t include cities’ fund balances⁹. A city’s audit has them; the Auditor of State lists every city’s reports.

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? ¹⁰

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: $19,898 in FY25, up 136% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 88% more. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$8,269	$15,703	$16,490	$19,898
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	$2,605	$835	$1,252	–

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)+88%$8,442 → $19,898, up 136% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 88% more

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 37% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 10% more.

$21,878

$17,529

Federal grants, for comparison: $9,121 in FY22.

Business awards

Every award statewide

Elections

Running for mayor and city council

Filing opens Monday, August 23, 2027: in 286 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)¹¹.

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

Rutland City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Jerry Dahl Winner1352.0%
Ted Malo Winner1248.0%

Rutland Mayor

Susan M. Tille Unopposed13100.0%

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Rutland; 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.

Rutland City Council At-Large (3 seats)
Now held by Shelly Reames, Lucas Tille, Deb Cofer
Rutland Mayor
Now held by Susan M. Tille

Candidates as county auditors and civicAPI list them; a filing can take a few days to appear here¹².

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 ballot¹³.

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁴

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. ↩
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. ↩
Levies outside the limit are each set aside for one purpose and have their own rules: debt service pays back bonds voters or the council approved, employee benefits cover pensions and insurance, and some (transit, an airport, insurance costs) have their own caps in state law. ↩
The state’s FY24 spending file repeats the year before for nearly every Iowa city, so that year isn’t shown. ↩
From the reports each government files with the Treasurer of State’s debt reporting site. “Per resident” divides by the population the site lists, the same figure for every year, so the trend shows the debt itself changing. ↩
Article XI, section 3 of the Iowa Constitution limits a county, city or school district’s debt to 5% of the value of the taxable property in it. Iowa applies the limit to the full (100%) value, before the rollback, and it covers general obligation debt, backed by property taxes; revenue bonds repaid only from fees, like water bills, don’t count. Iowa Funnel compares general obligation debt with 5% of the value two years earlier, as the last tax lists before the year; a government’s own bond documents state its exact figure. ↩
The Department of Management’s city budget and annual report files on the Iowa Data Hub give revenue and spending by city, but no beginning or ending fund balances. A city’s audit or annual financial report has them, in its statement of net position and its fund balance schedules. ↩
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. ↩
Iowa Code §376.4(1)(a): nomination papers are filed 71 to 47 days before the election, by 5:00 p.m. on the last day. Cities that may hold a primary election file earlier: 85 to 68 days before. ↩
Expected seats come from when each seat was last elected and its term. Filed candidates come from civicAPI and, in Black Hawk, Johnson and Scott counties, the auditor’s published candidate list, read weekly while filing is open. Check with the county auditor or city clerk before relying on it. Only names are shown. ↩
Iowa Code §39.2(4) (2026), paragraph d: “For any political subdivision of this state, if the special election is in whole or in part for the question of issuing bonds or other indebtedness, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.” This applies to bond elections on or after July 1, 2023. Subsection 2 adds that “a special election for a city, school district, or merged area shall not be scheduled to coincide with the general election.” A few kinds of elections follow their own rules (“unless otherwise provided by law”). ↩
Legislative and congressional districts that cover Rutland; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Rutland 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.

Rutland

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Rutland

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $1.55 more5

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Rutland’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What Rutland owes

The 5% limit8

Money in reserve

State money

What the state pays the city every year

Has it kept up with prices?

Collected by the state for the city

Business awards

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

Who has filed for Tuesday, November 2, 2027

Past ballot measures

When a measure can be on the ballot

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress14

Compared with places this size³

Outside the limit: $1.55 more⁵

The 5% limit⁸

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹⁴