How Brainerd is run
Who runs Brainerd, 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 Brainerd's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Brainerd
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
- The city pays for council members' health insurance, though some members opt out
Brainerd city staff
85 full-time-equivalent positions. 2025-12-31. Full-time equivalent city government employees by function at December 31, 2025, from the ACFR statistical section. City of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Brainerd 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.
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $4.1M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: Keep unassigned general fund balance at 35% to 50% of current-year general fund operating spending. At the end of 2025 it was 30%, below the range. The city is below this target. City of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
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 FY2026.
Comes from
- Intergovernmental aid$6.5M · 46%
- Property taxes$4.7M · 33%
- Charges for services$1M · 7%
- Other revenue$863,800 · 6%
- Licenses and permits$561,370 · 4%
- Other taxes$179,500 · 1%
- Other (fines, special assessments, interest)$286,500 · 2%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$5.6M · 39%
- General government$3.8M · 27%
- Streets$1.6M · 11%
- Parks$1.5M · 10%
- Fire$1.4M · 10%
- Other (misdemeanor prosecutor, animal control)$323,827 · 2%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity, a share of its market value set by state formula. These are the 2025 rates from Crow Wing County. The split leaves out voter-approved school levies charged on market value.
55¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Brainerd
- City of Brainerd48.128% basic rate plus 5.755% debt service.53.883 · 55%
- Crow Wing County22.017 · 23%
- School District 18120.24 · 21%
- Other1.58 · 2%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)97.72
Taxes payable 2025 tax capacity rates for property in Brainerd. City of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
Who provides your services
Not everything in Brainerd is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityBrainerd Police DepartmentCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- FireThe cityBrainerd Fire DepartmentCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- ElectricityThe cityBrainerd Public Utilities (city utility run by the Public Utilities Commission)The city administrator does not oversee the Public Utilities Department.City of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- WaterThe cityBrainerd Public UtilitiesCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- Sewer and wastewater treatmentThe cityCity sewer utility and Brainerd Public UtilitiesCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- Storm waterThe cityCity storm sewer utilityCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity streets departmentCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity parks and recreationCity of Brainerd · Jun 23, 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 | WorthingtonMN | WaconiaMN | BrainerdMN | HutchinsonMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 13,979 | 14,113 | 14,428 | 14,655 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $155,958 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $6,000 | $6,600 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $806 | $947 | $980 | $1,129 |
| Debt per resident | $3,350 | $3,949 | $2,317 | $3,168 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $302 | $111 | $377 | $444 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 9.1 | 3.8 | 5.9 | 13.3 |
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). Waconia pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Brainerd publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe adopted 2026 budget is posted with past budgets on the city website. City of Brainerd · Oct 11, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe council approved the administrator's contract on February 5, 2024, but the meeting packet did not include it. We found no posted copy. City of Brainerd · Feb 5, 2024
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list roll call votes by member name. City of Brainerd · Sep 21, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineMeetings are live streamed and recorded to YouTube, and agendas and minutes are posted. City of Brainerd · Oct 11, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentOrdinance 1563, adopted January 2, 2024, states mayor and council pay per month. City of Brainerd · Dec 18, 2023
- Partly: Employee pay publishedCouncil packets include wage grids by position and step and list step placements. City of Brainerd · Feb 5, 2024
Questions to ask your council
- The city planned to issue bonds in 2026 for road projects and a Fire Station 1 remodel. How much will the new bonds add to the $33,423,000 in debt at the end of 2025?
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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?
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