City

Tennant

$2,380 a yearproperty tax on a $200,000 home here, FY27, for every local government ($28.22 per $1,000 of taxable value)¹

$530 a yearof that goes to the city ($6.29 per $1,000)

$19,823property taxes the city levies, FY27

$46,290city budget, all funds, FY27²

Who runs it

The city council passes ordinances, adopts the budget and sets the city’s property tax.

Dennis A OellerichTennant City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Mark TearneyTennant Mayor · elected November 4, 2025
Todd HivelyTennant City Council At-Large · elected November 4, 2025
Mark TearneyTennant City Council · elected November 7, 2023
Paula CampbellTennant City Council · elected November 7, 2023
Tom EwoldtTennant City Council · 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 Tennant

Homes and businesses in most of Tennant pay a combined $27.38 per $1,000 of taxable value (FY27). They pay it all to the Shelby County treasurer, who passes each government its share; the city sets and gets only its own piece, $6.29. Estimate your bill.

Everyone else$14.7954%
Shelby County$6.3123%
City of Tennant$6.2923%

Rates over time

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

CombinedCity’s own

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$25.87	$6.70
FY21	$26.38	$6.70
FY22	$26.37	$6.67
FY23	$26.61	$6.67
FY24	$28.09	$6.87
FY25	$28.82	$6.67
FY26	$28.72	$6.48
FY27	$28.22	$6.29

Show the numbers

Year	Combined	City’s own
FY20	$25.87	$6.70
FY21	$26.38	$6.70
FY22	$26.37	$6.67
FY23	$26.61	$6.67
FY24	$28.09	$6.87
FY25	$28.82	$6.67
FY26	$28.72	$6.48
FY27	$28.22	$6.29

Compared with places this size³

Tennant’s city property tax rate of $6.29 per $1,000 is the 12th lowest of 103 Iowa cities with 60–120 people. The middle of the group is $9.22.

See all 103

#	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	Ricketts	$19.22	105
8	Varina	$19.09	69
9	Sharpsburg	$18.93	69
10	Grant	$18.71	82
11	Derby	$18.13	89
12	Blockton	$16.37	123
13	Waterville	$16.25	112
14	Popejoy	$15.80	76
15	Marne	$15.03	109
16	Baldwin	$14.91	99
17	Truesdale	$14.56	64
18	Yorktown	$14.48	60
19	Ferguson	$13.53	98
20	Lanesboro	$13.53	112
21	Cylinder	$12.52	84
22	Aredale	$12.19	59
23	Arion	$12.14	99
24	East Peru	$11.89	119
25	Dolliver	$11.85	63
26	Morley	$11.74	94
27	Ledyard	$11.74	118
28	Toronto	$11.68	101
29	Matlock	$11.44	74
30	Melrose	$11.27	110
31	Nodaway	$11.20	74
32	Promise City	$11.13	91
33	Masonville	$11.00	98
34	Somers	$10.99	121
35	Numa	$10.80	69
36	Pacific Junction	$10.56	99
37	Oto	$10.45	71
38	Bradgate	$10.37	76
39	North Washington	$10.23	107
40	Dawson	$10.19	110
41	Guernsey	$10.13	59
42	Hartwick	$9.90	91
43	Gray	$9.85	62
44	Rutland	$9.65	116
45	Webster	$9.55	94
46	Nemaha	$9.53	65
47	Martinsburg	$9.49	109
48	Kirkman	$9.44	60
49	Larrabee	$9.41	116
50	Wiota	$9.32	91
51	Floris	$9.29	119
52	Mitchell	$9.22	118
53	Welton	$8.86	124
54	Archer	$8.84	116
55	Fraser	$8.81	107
56	Macksburg	$8.81	103
57	Andover	$8.28	106
58	Unionville	$8.10	74
59	Rome	$8.10	112
60	Carpenter	$8.10	92
61	Orchard	$8.10	64
62	Turin	$8.10	69
63	Struble	$8.10	72
64	Westfield	$8.10	121
65	Shannon City	$8.10	73
66	Chillicothe	$8.10	79
67	Clio	$8.10	67
68	Scarville	$8.10	75
69	Buckeye	$7.94	82
70	Gruver	$7.89	63
71	Redding	$7.86	64
72	Morrison	$7.86	101
73	Oyens	$7.86	88
74	Ralston	$7.86	76
75	Chatsworth	$7.86	72
76	Cromwell	$7.81	104
77	Arispe	$7.71	95
78	Luzerne	$7.69	111
79	Westwood	$7.67	96
80	Kinross	$7.57	80
81	Bernard	$7.56	117
82	Bevington	$7.41	62
83	Garber	$7.35	76
84	Spring Hill	$7.26	68
85	Greenville	$7.24	69
86	Spragueville	$7.20	92
87	Craig	$7.01	78
88	Zwingle	$6.93	86
89	Pleasant Plain	$6.79	83
90	Willey	$6.69	72
91	Lincoln	$6.32	119
92	Tennant	$6.29	83
93	Sandyville	$6.06	59
94	Ackworth	$5.90	117
95	Harper	$5.29	117
96	Plano	$4.66	57
97	Keomah Village	$3.15	107
98	Mcintire	$2.78	115
99	Graf	$2.56	76
100	Centralia	$2.41	117
101	Gibson	$1.88	58
102	North Buena Vista	$1.78	107
103	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$17,513100%

Budget and spending

Reading a local budget

Where each dollar of Tennant’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 104 Iowa cities closest in size (60–120 people).

Where it goes	Of each dollar	Cities this size (104)
Public Works	48¢	31¢
General Government	42¢	30¢
Public Safety	7¢	10¢
Community and Economic Development	3¢	2¢
Culture and Recreation	<1¢	7¢

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$27,40059%
General Government$15,13033%
Public Safety$2,6006%
Community and Economic Development$1,0002%
Culture and Recreation$1600%

Budget compared with what it spent, FY23

Function	Budget	Spent
Public Works	$9,820	$2,999
Public Safety	$2,300	$2,550
Health and Social Services	$0	$0
General Government	$13,260	$12,063
Debt Service	$0	$0
Culture and Recreation	$120	$121
Community and Economic Development	$1,000	$200
Capital Projects	$0	$0
Business Type / Enterprise	$0	$0

What it spent each year

FY24 left out⁴

$44,901

$31,824

’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: $7,035 in FY25, up 25% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 0% less. Grants are below.

In today's dollarsActual dollars

Show the numbers

Source	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Road Use Tax (streets)	$6,730	$6,820	$6,997	$7,035

Has it kept up with prices?

Each source from FY19 to FY25, after inflation.

Road Use Tax (streets)−0%$5,613 → $7,035, up 25% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 0% 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 81% since FY19 while prices rose 25%, so it buys 45% more.

$10,110

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25

Elections

Most recent: November 4, 2025

City · 2

Tennant City Council At-Large

2 seats: the top 2 win.

Dennis A Oellerich Winner1250.0%
Todd Hively Winner1250.0%

Tennant Mayor

Mark Tearney Unopposed9100.0%

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

Related places

At the Statehouse and in Congress⁶

Jason Schultz (Sen. 6)Craig Steven Williams (Rep. 11)

U.S. House:District 4

Shelby CountyA-H-S-T schoolsHarlan 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 Tennant; percentages are rough shares of its area. These lawmakers write the state laws and budget Tennant 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.