How Brooklyn Park is run
Who runs Brooklyn Park, 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 Brooklyn Park's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Brooklyn Park
Brooklyn Park uses the council-manager form. The mayor and six council members pass ordinances, adopt the budget and hire the city manager and city attorney. The city manager runs daily operations and appoints department heads.
What they are paid
- $50 a day in extra pay for council-approved activities
Brooklyn Park city staff
590 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026 budget. Full-time equivalents across all funds in the 2026-2027 budget's staffing table, including 454.6 in the general fund. City of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
The city website lists the three highest 2026 salaries: city manager, police chief and fire chief. We found no full employee pay list. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Brooklyn Park 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: $38.8M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: Keep unassigned general fund balance at 35% to 50% of the next year's budgeted general fund spending. At the end of 2025 it was $38.8 million, or 47.8% of the 2026 budget. The city meets this target. City of Brooklyn Park · Jun 25, 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
- Property taxes$67M · 82%
- Charges for services$3.4M · 4%
- Use of fund balance$1.8M · 2%
- Investment income$1.5M · 2%
- Other taxes$1.2M · 2%
- Other (licenses and permits, state aid, transfers, fines and more)$6.3M · 8%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$32.3M · 40%
- Fire$12.8M · 16%
- Public works$10M · 12%
- Administration$8.5M · 10%
- Recreation and parks$7.5M · 9%
- Community development$5.9M · 7%
- Finance$4.3M · 5%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. This split leaves out voter-approved levies charged on market value and the state general levy on business property.
43¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Brooklyn Park
- City of Brooklyn Park (operating and debt)52.282 · 43%
- Hennepin County and other special districts45.791 · 38%
- School district ISD 279 (Osseo)Each property pays only one school district. Parts of the city are in ISD 11 and ISD 281 instead.23.64 · 19%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)121.713
Taxes payable 2025 tax capacity rates for property in Brooklyn Park (Hennepin County, Osseo ISD 279). City of Brooklyn Park · Jun 25, 2026
See what a Brooklyn Park home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Brooklyn Park is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityBrooklyn Park Police DepartmentCity of Brooklyn Park · Jun 25, 2026
- FireThe cityBrooklyn Park Fire DepartmentCity of Brooklyn Park · Jun 25, 2026
- AmbulancePrivate companyNorth Memorial Ambulance ServiceCity firefighters are EMTs or paramedics and respond to medical calls. North Memorial provides advanced life support care and transport.City of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
- WaterThe cityCity water utilityPumped from city wells and treated at the city's water treatment plant.City of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
- SewerThe cityCity sanitary sewer utilityCity of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
- RecyclingThe cityCity recycling utilityCity of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
- Storm waterThe cityCity storm sewer utilityCity of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
- StreetsThe cityBrooklyn Park Public WorksCity of Brooklyn Park · Jun 25, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityBrooklyn Park Recreation and ParksCity of Brooklyn Park · Jun 25, 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 | PlymouthMN | LakevilleMN | WoodburyMN | Brooklyn ParkMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 78,942 | 79,270 | 81,558 | 83,543 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $248,350 | $261,483 | Not confirmed | $249,379 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $12,578 |
| General fund per resident | $768 | $588 | $762 | $972 |
| Debt per resident | $661 | $2,251 | $776 | $291 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $214 | $172 | $197 | $304 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 7.1 |
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 Brooklyn Park publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe full 2026-2027 budget book, adopted December 8, 2025, and a budget summary are posted on the city's website. City of Brooklyn Park · Dec 8, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list roll call votes by name, such as the 6-0 vote to hire four firefighters on August 11, 2025. City of Brooklyn Park · Aug 11, 2025
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Brooklyn Park · Mar 19, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document City of Brooklyn Park · Sep 8, 2026
- Partly: Employee pay publishedThe city website lists the three highest 2026 salaries. We found no full employee pay list. City of Brooklyn Park · Oct 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Police, at $32.28 million, and fire, at $12.78 million, are the two largest general fund costs in 2026. What service levels do they pay for, including the six firefighters added this year?
- Unassigned general fund balance was $38.8 million at the end of 2025, or 47.8% of the 2026 budget, near the top of the city's 35% to 50% goal. How does the council decide whether to use any of it?
Help decide what comes next
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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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