City

Oyens

$1,820 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($21.60 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$660 a yearof that goes to the city ($7.86 per $1,000)

$62,604property taxes the city levies, FY27

$150,704city 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 MeisOyens City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Marcel KonzOyens Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Marcel KonzOyens City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Steven SwalveOyens City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Jacqueline BensteadOyens City Council At-Large · elected November 7, 2023
Kyle ThomsOyens 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 Oyens

Homes and businesses in most of Oyens pay a combined $21.60 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Plymouth County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $7.86. Estimate your bill.

Remsen-Union schools$8.8241%
City of Oyens$7.8636%
Plymouth County$3.5316%
Western Iowa Tech Community College$1.025%
Plymouth County Assessor$0.251%
Plymouth County Extension (ISU Extension and Outreach)$0.12<1%

Rates over time

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

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$21.64	$8.10
FY21	$21.47	$8.10
FY22	$21.36	$8.10
FY23	$21.27	$8.10
FY24	$21.55	$8.32
FY25	$21.03	$7.86
FY26	$21.29	$8.10
FY27	$21.60	$7.86

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$21.64	$8.10
FY21	$21.47	$8.10
FY22	$21.36	$8.10
FY23	$21.27	$8.10
FY24	$21.55	$8.32
FY25	$21.03	$7.86
FY26	$21.29	$8.10
FY27	$21.60	$7.86

Compared with places this size³

Oyens’s city property tax rate of $7.86 per $1,000 is the 32nd lowest of 112 Iowa cities with 60–130 people. The middle of the group is $9.33.

See all 112

#	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	Monmouth	$16.41	129
14	Blockton	$16.37	123
15	Waterville	$16.25	112
16	Popejoy	$15.80	76
17	Marne	$15.03	109
18	Baldwin	$14.91	99
19	Truesdale	$14.56	64
20	Yorktown	$14.48	60
21	Ayrshire	$13.55	128
22	Searsboro	$13.55	129
23	Ferguson	$13.53	98
24	Lanesboro	$13.53	112
25	Cylinder	$12.52	84
26	Aredale	$12.19	59
27	Arion	$12.14	99
28	East Peru	$11.89	119
29	Dolliver	$11.85	63
30	Morley	$11.74	94
31	Ledyard	$11.74	118
32	Toronto	$11.68	101
33	Matlock	$11.44	74
34	Melrose	$11.27	110
35	Nodaway	$11.20	74
36	Promise City	$11.13	91
37	Masonville	$11.00	98
38	Somers	$10.99	121
39	Havelock	$10.95	127
40	Numa	$10.80	69
41	Pacific Junction	$10.56	99
42	Oto	$10.45	71
43	Bradgate	$10.37	76
44	North Washington	$10.23	107
45	Dawson	$10.19	110
46	Guernsey	$10.13	59
47	Hartwick	$9.90	91
48	Gray	$9.85	62
49	Rutland	$9.65	116
50	Superior	$9.58	127
51	Webster	$9.55	94
52	Nemaha	$9.53	65
53	Martinsburg	$9.49	109
54	Kirkman	$9.44	60
55	Larrabee	$9.41	116
56	Hamilton	$9.35	125
57	Wiota	$9.32	91
58	Floris	$9.29	119
59	Mitchell	$9.22	118
60	Welton	$8.86	124
61	Archer	$8.84	116
62	Fraser	$8.81	107
63	Macksburg	$8.81	103
64	Andover	$8.28	106
65	Carpenter	$8.10	92
66	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
67	Clio	$8.10	67
68	Orchard	$8.10	64
69	Rome	$8.10	112
70	Scarville	$8.10	75
71	Shannon City	$8.10	73
72	Struble	$8.10	72
73	Turin	$8.10	69
74	Unionville	$8.10	74
75	Westfield	$8.10	121
76	Vincent	$8.09	125
77	Buckeye	$7.94	82
78	Gruver	$7.89	63
79	Redding	$7.86	64
80	Morrison	$7.86	101
81	Oyens	$7.86	88
82	Ralston	$7.86	76
83	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
84	Cromwell	$7.81	104
85	Arispe	$7.71	95
86	Luzerne	$7.69	111
87	Westwood	$7.67	96
88	Kinross	$7.57	80
89	Bernard	$7.56	117
90	Bevington	$7.41	62
91	Garber	$7.35	76
92	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
93	Greenville	$7.24	69
94	Spragueville	$7.20	92
95	Craig	$7.01	78
96	Brunsville	$6.95	128
97	Zwingle	$6.93	86
98	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
99	Houghton	$6.73	129
100	Williamson	$6.72	126
101	Willey	$6.69	72
102	Lincoln	$6.32	119
103	Tennant	$6.29	83
104	Sandyville	$6.06	59
105	Ackworth	$5.90	117
106	Harper	$5.29	117
107	Keomah Village	$3.15	107
108	Mcintire	$2.78	115
109	Graf	$2.56	76
110	Centralia	$2.41	117
111	North Buena Vista	$1.78	107
112	Balltown	$0.12	78

The $8.10 limit

Oyens’s general levy is $7.86 per $1,000 of taxable value in FY27, $0.24 below the limit.⁴ 599 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)

Tax increment financing (TIF)

Oyens’s TIF revenue, from its reports to the state. It budgeted $51,873 in TIF revenue for FY24.

$54,317

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$10,801
FY17	$13,189
FY18	$12,783
FY19	$24,369
FY20	$24,701
FY21	$30,083
FY22	$37,977
FY23	$54,317

Show the numbers

Year	TIF revenue
FY16	$10,801
FY17	$13,189
FY18	$12,783
FY19	$24,369
FY20	$24,701
FY21	$30,083
FY22	$37,977
FY23	$54,317

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$62,528100%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Oyens’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 113 Iowa cities closest in size (60–130 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (113)
Business Type / Enterprise	35¢	16¢
Public Safety	24¢	10¢
General Government	24¢	30¢
Public Works	9¢	31¢
Debt Service	5¢	1¢
Everything else	2¢	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$63,63642%
Public Safety$45,55030%
Public Works$23,18015%
Debt Service$12,2018%
Community and Economic Development$3,0002%
Culture and Recreation$2,9372%
Health and Social Services$2000%

The state’s FY27 file doesn’t include business type / enterprise yet ($86,656 in FY26), so this total is low.

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$19,800	$13,306
Public Safety	$15,615	$24,116
Health and Social Services	$250	$100
General Government	$36,145	$39,291
Debt Service	$12,753	$12,395
Culture and Recreation	$537	$437
Community and Economic Development	$2,000	$811
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$45,131	$43,066

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁵

$314,896

Debt, reserves and audits

How local debt works · What an audit tells you

What Oyens owes

$85,162 at June 30, 2026: $926 per resident. 560th most per resident of 939 Iowa places of its kind (the list).⁶

$150,000

$85,162

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$85,162	$926
2025	$72,855	$792
2024	$90,518	$984
2023	$59,406	$646
2022	$86,400	$939
2021	$60,000	$652
2020	$60,500	$658
2019	$70,500	$766
2018	$90,500	$984
2017	$100,000	$1,087
2016	$137,753	$1,497
2015	$118,000	$1,283
2014	$126,500	$1,375
2013	$134,500	$1,462
2012	$150,000	$1,630
2011	$150,000	$1,630
2010	$150,000	$1,630

Show the numbers

June 30	Owed	Per resident
2026	$85,162	$926
2025	$72,855	$792
2024	$90,518	$984
2023	$59,406	$646
2022	$86,400	$939
2021	$60,000	$652
2020	$60,500	$658
2019	$70,500	$766
2018	$90,500	$984
2017	$100,000	$1,087
2016	$137,753	$1,497
2015	$118,000	$1,283
2014	$126,500	$1,375
2013	$134,500	$1,462
2012	$150,000	$1,630
2011	$150,000	$1,630
2010	$150,000	$1,630

Down 43% since 2010.

Money in reserve

The state’s budget files don’t include cities’ fund balances⁷. Oyens’s latest audit has them: Periodic Examination, period ending Sunday, March 31, 2024 (PDF).

Audits⁸

The latest: Periodic Examination for the period ending Sunday, March 31, 2024 (PDF), released Friday, March 7, 2025, by a CPA firm.

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? ⁹

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: $12,192 in FY25, up 17% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 7% less. Grants are below.

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$10,208	$10,260	$10,559	$10,616
Commercial and industrial tax replacement (“backfill”)	–	–	–	$1,576

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−19%$10,455 → $10,616, up 2% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 19% 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 42% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 13% more.

$15,365

$14,619

Federal grants, for comparison: $7,626 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)¹⁰.

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

Oyens City Council At-Large

3 seats: the top 3 win.

Kathy Meis Winner2530.9%
Marcel Konz Winner2024.7%
Steven Swalve Winner1619.8%
Kyle N. Plendl 1012.3%
Gwen Taylor 1012.3%

Oyens Mayor

Marcel Konz Winner735.0%
Scott Kneip 630.0%
Gwen Taylor 420.0%
Donna Paulson 315.0%

Local races from civicAPI and county auditors for Oyens; 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.

Oyens City Council At-Large (2 seats)
Now held by Kyle Thoms, Jacqueline Benstead
Oyens Mayor
Now held by Marcel Konz

Candidates as county auditors and civicAPI list them; a filing can take a few days to appear here¹¹.

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 ballot¹².

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹³

Kevin Alons (Sen. 7)Travis M. Sitzmann (Rep. 13)

U.S. House:District 4

Plymouth County Remsen-Union 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 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. ↩
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 Auditor of State’s list of audit reports. Every Iowa city, county and school district is audited or examined: larger ones each year by a CPA firm or the Auditor of State, small cities every few years. Findings are problems the auditors report, from weak controls over cash to breaking a law. ↩
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 Oyens; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Oyens 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.

Oyens

Who runs it

Meetings and agendas

Property taxes

Who gets a property owner’s tax bill in Oyens

Rates over time

Compared with places this size3

The $8.10 limit

Tax increment financing (TIF)

The city’s levies, FY27

Budget and spending

Where each dollar of Oyens’s budget goes, FY26

Planned spending, FY27

What it spent each year

Debt, reserves and audits

What Oyens owes

Money in reserve

Audits8

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 Congress13

Compared with places this size³

Audits⁸

At the Statehouse and in Congress¹³