How Forest Lake is run
Who runs Forest Lake, 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 Forest Lake's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Forest Lake
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
Forest Lake city staff
66 full-time-equivalent positions, including Sworn police officers 25. FY2025. City of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
Council minutes refer to grades and steps of the city's adopted compensation plan. We found no published pay plan or list of employee pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Forest Lake 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: $7.7M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: The adopted policy keeps unassigned general fund balance at 50% of the next year's budgeted general fund spending. On July 28, 2026 the council approved a target range of 40% to 50%. At the end of 2025 unassigned balance was 58.6% of 2025 general fund spending. City of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 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$12.2M · 82%
- Police (state aid, school liaison contract, fines)$797,800 · 5%
- Building permits and inspection fees$790,800 · 5%
- Fire service fees from Columbus and state aid$251,972 · 2%
- State fire relief pension aid$225,000 · 2%
- Interest earnings$150,000 · 1%
- Other (licenses, park and senior center fees, other)$439,436 · 3%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$6.3M · 41%
- Finance (including city insurance)$1.2M · 8%
- Fire$1.2M · 8%
- Streets$1M · 7%
- Park maintenance$881,449 · 6%
- Community development$668,040 · 4%
- Administration$582,124 · 4%
- Building inspection$559,479 · 4%
- Other (IT, buildings, legal, elections, parks programs, contingency, transfers)$2.9M · 19%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. Not all overlapping rates apply to every property in the city. This split leaves out voter-approved school levies charged on market value.
42¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Forest Lake
- City of Forest Lake41.13 · 42%
- School District No. 83124.084 · 24%
- Washington County23.846 · 24%
- Special districts (watersheds, Metropolitan Council, others)9.592 · 10%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)98.652
2025 tax capacity rates for property in Forest Lake (Washington County, ISD 831). City of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
See what a Forest Lake home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Forest Lake is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityForest Lake Police DepartmentCity of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity water departmentCity of Forest Lake · Oct 10, 2026
- Trash and recyclingContractorRepublic ServicesCity of Forest Lake · Oct 10, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity public worksCity of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
- Surface water managementThe cityCity public worksCity of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity parks and recreationCity of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
- AirportThe cityCity of Forest LakeA paved-strip airport with an arrival and departure building.City of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 2026
- Housing programsThe countyWashington County Housing and Redevelopment AuthorityCity of Forest Lake · Jul 14, 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 | South St PaulMN | New HopeMN | Forest LakeMN | NorthfieldMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 20,532 | 20,807 | 20,952 | 21,992 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $210,762 | Not current (2023) | Not confirmed | $208,977 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $10,302 |
| General fund per resident | $1,130 | $980 | $725 | $947 |
| Debt per resident | $1,446 | $1,566 | $1,684 | $3,566 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $261 | $244 | $174 | $235 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 5.4 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 5.6 |
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). South St Paul and New Hope and Northfield pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Forest Lake publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe administrator post is held by an interim appointee. We found no employment agreement or pay document online. City of Forest Lake · Feb 17, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no ordinance or page stating council pay. The budget shows only a combined $28,500 wage line for the mayor and council. City of Forest Lake · Dec 8, 2025
- No: Employee pay publishedMinutes refer to grades of the adopted compensation plan, but we found no published pay plan or employee pay list. City of Forest Lake · Feb 23, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $7.7 million at the end of 2025, 58.6% of that year's spending. With the new 40% to 50% target, how will the council use any amount above the range?
- The gross city levy is set to rise 8.7 percent for 2027. Which new costs drive the increase?
- General obligation bonds totaled $35.3 million at the end of 2025, and the proposed Public Works facility is not yet in the levy. How would it be paid for?
The fiscal year starts January 1. The 2027 preliminary budget and levy were on the September 28, 2026 council agenda. The Truth in Taxation meeting is December 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM. The 2026 budget was adopted December 8, 2025. See who is running for council
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