How Woodhaven is run
Who runs Woodhaven, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Woodhaven's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Woodhaven
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
Woodhaven city staff
The line-item budget is not posted online, and no citywide position count or employee pay list was found. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Woodhaven in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
The city's own outlook
No multi-year forecast was found. The audit says Proposal A and the Headlee amendment limit growth in taxable value, so the city needs to watch its budget closely and will maintain an appropriate level of fund balance. City of Woodhaven · Dec 16, 2025
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $1.8M (2025-06-30). City of Woodhaven · Dec 16, 2025
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2024-25.
Comes from
- Property taxes$11.2M · 61%
- State grants (mostly state revenue sharing)$3.5M · 19%
- Charges for services$1.7M · 9%
- Federal grants$658,226 · 4%
- Fines and forfeitures$596,028 · 3%
- Investment income$353,303 · 2%
- Other (licenses and permits, other revenue)$365,513 · 2%
Goes to (FY2024-25)
- Police$6.8M · 37%
- Fire$2.9M · 16%
- General government$2.9M · 16%
- Public works$2M · 11%
- Parks and recreation$1.7M · 10%
- Transfers out to other funds$894,272 · 5%
- City office$451,749 · 3%
- Other (animal shelter, library, planning and economic development)$399,180 · 2%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Woodhaven is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityWoodhaven Police DepartmentCity of Woodhaven · Dec 16, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity Department of Public WorksCity of Woodhaven · Dec 16, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity Parks and Recreation DepartmentCity of Woodhaven · Dec 16, 2025
- LibraryAnother agencyTrenton Veterans Memorial Library (City of Trenton), by cooperative agreementRenewed for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028.City of Woodhaven · Jun 16, 2026
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | SturgisMI | NilesMI | WoodhavenMI | Sault Ste MarieMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 10,900 | 11,665 | 12,503 | 13,083 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $128,000 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,129 | $906 | $1,485 | $1,283 |
| Debt per resident | $857 | $368 | $360 | $1,729 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $-447 | $1,436 | $340 | $2,064 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | — | — | — |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What Woodhaven publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted onlineThe budget page lists budgets only through 2021-2022. Council minutes give FY2026-27 fund totals, not the line-item budget. City of Woodhaven · Oct 10, 2026
- Partly: City manager's contract findable online City of Woodhaven · Sep 1, 2026
- Partly: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list ayes and nays by name on resolutions. Most motions are recorded only as carried unanimously. City of Woodhaven · Jul 7, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentNo council or mayor pay was found in the posted budgets list, council packets or the budget resolution. City of Woodhaven · Oct 10, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedNo salary list was found. The EVIP page mentions a compensation plan but lists no readable document. City of Woodhaven · Oct 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The retiree health care (OPEB) liability was $28,189,524 on June 30, 2025, with the plan 12.4% funded. How much of the FY2026-27 operating budget of $18,567,769 goes toward paying it down?
- The police department spent $6,760,399 in FY2024-25, above its final budget. How is police spending planned in FY2026-27?
- The city administrator post is filled on an interim basis through December 31, 2026. What is the plan and timeline for a permanent appointment?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Budget work begins in March. The council held the public hearing on June 2, 2026 and adopted the FY2026-27 budget on June 16, 2026. See who is running for council
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Woodhaven next?
One tap, no sign-in. We count answers; we never show who chose what.
Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
See something wrong? Report an error
Something wrong or missing? Tell us what and where, with a link to a source if you have one. Reports feed the next verification run.