Local taxes › Palo Alto County › Cylinder

City

Cylinder

$2,650 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($31.46 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$1,050 a yearof that goes to the city ($12.52 per $1,000)

$30,612property taxes the city levies, FY27

$77,689city 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.

Adam T. KerrCylinder City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Cary AndersonCylinder City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Deb WeisbrodCylinder City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Gregory Ray SweenCylinder City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Harry BormannCylinder Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Kurt BonnstetterCylinder City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Greg SweenCylinder City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Kurt J. BonnstetterCylinder 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 Cylinder

Homes and businesses in most of Cylinder pay a combined $31.46 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Palo Alto County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $12.52. Estimate your bill.

City of Cylinder$12.5240%
Emmetsburg schools$10.5534%
Palo Alto County$4.4814%
Palo Alto County Hospital$1.986%
Iowa Lakes Community College$1.274%
Palo Alto County Assessor$0.351%
Palo Alto County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.30<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$32.74	$10.53
FY21	$33.76	$10.94
FY22	$33.26	$10.95
FY23	$33.75	$11.39
FY24	$33.82	$12.49
FY25	$32.84	$12.11
FY26	$34.16	$13.30
FY27	$31.46	$12.52

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$32.74	$10.53
FY21	$33.76	$10.94
FY22	$33.26	$10.95
FY23	$33.75	$11.39
FY24	$33.82	$12.49
FY25	$32.84	$12.11
FY26	$34.16	$13.30
FY27	$31.46	$12.52

Compared with places this size³

Cylinder’s city property tax rate of $12.52 per $1,000 is the 22nd highest of 107 Iowa cities with 60–130 people. The middle of the group is $9.22.

See all 107

#	Place	Rate per $1,000	People
1	Castana	$34.13	103
2	Dougherty	$25.38	61
3	Hansell	$23.66	85
4	Whitten	$22.65	98
5	Stanley	$20.69	86
6	Rowan	$19.53	118
7	Bouton	$19.25	125
8	Ricketts	$19.22	105
9	Varina	$19.09	69
10	Sharpsburg	$18.93	69
11	Grant	$18.71	82
12	Derby	$18.13	89
13	Blockton	$16.37	123
14	Waterville	$16.25	112
15	Popejoy	$15.80	76
16	Marne	$15.03	109
17	Baldwin	$14.91	99
18	Truesdale	$14.56	64
19	Yorktown	$14.48	60
20	Ferguson	$13.53	98
21	Lanesboro	$13.53	112
22	Cylinder	$12.52	84
23	Aredale	$12.19	59
24	Arion	$12.14	99
25	East Peru	$11.89	119
26	Dolliver	$11.85	63
27	Morley	$11.74	94
28	Ledyard	$11.74	118
29	Toronto	$11.68	101
30	Matlock	$11.44	74
31	Melrose	$11.27	110
32	Nodaway	$11.20	74
33	Promise City	$11.13	91
34	Masonville	$11.00	98
35	Somers	$10.99	121
36	Numa	$10.80	69
37	Pacific Junction	$10.56	99
38	Oto	$10.45	71
39	Bradgate	$10.37	76
40	North Washington	$10.23	107
41	Dawson	$10.19	110
42	Guernsey	$10.13	59
43	Hartwick	$9.90	91
44	Gray	$9.85	62
45	Rutland	$9.65	116
46	Webster	$9.55	94
47	Nemaha	$9.53	65
48	Martinsburg	$9.49	109
49	Kirkman	$9.44	60
50	Larrabee	$9.41	116
51	Hamilton	$9.35	125
52	Wiota	$9.32	91
53	Floris	$9.29	119
54	Mitchell	$9.22	118
55	Welton	$8.86	124
56	Archer	$8.84	116
57	Fraser	$8.81	107
58	Macksburg	$8.81	103
59	Andover	$8.28	106
60	Unionville	$8.10	74
61	Rome	$8.10	112
62	Carpenter	$8.10	92
63	Orchard	$8.10	64
64	Turin	$8.10	69
65	Struble	$8.10	72
66	Westfield	$8.10	121
67	Shannon City	$8.10	73
68	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
69	Clio	$8.10	67
70	Scarville	$8.10	75
71	Vincent	$8.09	125
72	Buckeye	$7.94	82
73	Gruver	$7.89	63
74	Redding	$7.86	64
75	Morrison	$7.86	101
76	Oyens	$7.86	88
77	Ralston	$7.86	76
78	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
79	Cromwell	$7.81	104
80	Arispe	$7.71	95
81	Luzerne	$7.69	111
82	Westwood	$7.67	96
83	Kinross	$7.57	80
84	Bernard	$7.56	117
85	Bevington	$7.41	62
86	Garber	$7.35	76
87	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
88	Greenville	$7.24	69
89	Spragueville	$7.20	92
90	Craig	$7.01	78
91	Zwingle	$6.93	86
92	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
93	Williamson	$6.72	126
94	Willey	$6.69	72
95	Lincoln	$6.32	119
96	Tennant	$6.29	83
97	Sandyville	$6.06	59
98	Ackworth	$5.90	117
99	Harper	$5.29	117
100	Plano	$4.66	57
101	Keomah Village	$3.15	107
102	Mcintire	$2.78	115
103	Graf	$2.56	76
104	Centralia	$2.41	117
105	Gibson	$1.88	58
106	North Buena Vista	$1.78	107
107	Balltown	$0.12	78

The $8.10 limit

Cylinder’s general levy is $7.86 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.24 below the limit.⁴ 597 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 $7.86 (before FY25, the general levy alone)

Outside the limit: $4.66 more⁵

Liability, property & self insurance costs$4.54 · $11,030
Support of a Local Emerg. Mgmt. Comm.$0.12 · $284

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$19,10963%
Liability, property & self insurance costs$11,03036%
Support of a Local Emerg. Mgmt. Comm.$2841%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Cylinder’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 108 Iowa cities closest in size (60–130 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (108)
Business Type / Enterprise	35¢	15¢
General Government	30¢	31¢
Public Works	17¢	31¢
Culture and Recreation	8¢	7¢
Public Safety	6¢	10¢
Everything else	4¢	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.

General Government$38,05149%
Public Works$19,10025%
Public Safety$9,33812%
Culture and Recreation$9,00012%
Community and Economic Development$1,5502%
Health and Social Services$6501%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($29,500 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$60,000	$14,516
Public Safety	$5,817	$6,276
Health and Social Services	$600	$0
General Government	$19,550	$29,640
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$2,500	$1,541
Community and Economic Development	$5,550	$2,656
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$27,000	$26,145

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁶

$160,414

$84,070

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? ⁷

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: $12,935 in FY25, up 14% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 9% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$12,051	$11,882	$12,281	$12,356
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	–	$405	$695	$579

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.

$1,546

Tier 1 Business Property Tax$1,546100%

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$0
FY20	$0
FY21	$0
FY22	$0
FY23	$0
FY24	$1,336
FY25	$1,546

Show the numbers

Year	Grants and projects
FY19	$0
FY20	$0
FY21	$0
FY22	$0
FY23	$0
FY24	$1,336
FY25	$1,546

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−13%$11,368 → $12,356, up 9% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 13% 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 61% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 29% more.

$16,587

$13,184

Federal grants, for comparison: $6,131 in FY23.

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Cylinder City Council At-Large

5 seats: the top 5 win.

Gregory Ray Sween Winner2720.6%
Adam T. Kerr Winner2619.9%
Deb Weisbrod Winner2619.9%
Cary Anderson Winner2619.9%
Kurt Bonnstetter Winner2619.9%

Cylinder Mayor

Harry Bormann Unopposed28100.0%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁸

David D. Rowley (Sen. 5)John H. Wills (Rep. 10)

U.S. House:District 4

Palo Alto County Emmetsburg 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 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 Cylinder; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Cylinder 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.

Cylinder

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Cylinder

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Outside the limit: $4.66 more5

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Cylinder’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

State money

What the state pays the city every year

Grants and project money

Has it kept up with prices?

Collected by the state for the city

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress8

Compared with places this size³

Outside the limit: $4.66 more⁵

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁸