How Hermantown is run
Who runs Hermantown, 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 Hermantown's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Hermantown
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day. The council sets policy, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- $75 a month phone and internet stipend
- Reimbursement of expenses for official duties, with mileage at the IRS rate
Hermantown city staff
The audited report and adopted budget resolution do not state a staff count, and we found no employee pay list. Personnel costs were about 64% of the proposed 2026 general fund. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Hermantown 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
Unassigned general fund balance: $8.4M (2025-12-31). City of Hermantown · May 28, 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 FY2025.
Goes to (FY2025)
- Public safety (police and fire)$5M · 50%
- General government$1.4M · 14%
- Capital outlay$1.3M · 13%
- Streets and highways$899,053 · 9%
- Transfers out to other funds$646,023 · 6%
- Community and economic development$427,963 · 4%
- Culture and recreation$250,416 · 3%
- Other (debt principal)$2,021 · 0%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Hermantown is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityHermantown Police DepartmentCity of Hermantown · Oct 10, 2026
- FireThe cityHermantown Fire DepartmentThree fire halls.City of Hermantown · Oct 10, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity public worksThe city buys all its drinking water from the City of Duluth.City of Hermantown · Oct 10, 2026
- SewerThe cityCity public worksThe city collects sewage. The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District treats it.City of Hermantown · Oct 10, 2026
- StormwaterThe cityCity stormwater utilityCity of Hermantown · May 28, 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 | FairmontMN | HermantownMN | Little CanadaMN | CambridgeMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 10,099 | 10,110 | 10,567 | 11,090 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $151,778 | Not confirmed | $169,333 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $8,100 | $6,250 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,446 | $976 | $572 | $869 |
| Debt per resident | $5,944 | $4,992 | $180 | $2,529 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $367 | $240 | $61 | $244 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 9.1 | — | 2.3 | — |
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). Little Canada pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Hermantown 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 onlineWe found no City Administrator contract or pay resolution on the city website or in recent council packets. City of Hermantown · Oct 10, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's roll call vote, for example on the 2026 budget and levy. City of Hermantown · Dec 1, 2025
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentCity code sets the mayor's pay at $900 a month and council members' at $675 a month. City of Hermantown · Jan 1, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedWe found no employee pay list or salary schedule on the city's finance and transparency pages. City of Hermantown · Oct 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The city owed $50,470,000 in general obligation bonds at the end of 2025. How will debt payments affect future levies?
- Public safety cost $5,005,502 in 2025, more than half of general fund spending. How will police and fire on-call costs grow in the 2027 budget?
The fiscal year starts January 1. On September 8, 2026 the council set a preliminary 2027 levy of $10,768,090 and scheduled the Truth in Taxation hearing for December 7, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. The budget and levy must be adopted by December 21. The 2026 budget and levy were adopted on December 1, 2025. See who is running for council
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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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