How Hibbing is run
Who runs Hibbing, 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 Hibbing's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Hibbing
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
Hibbing city staff
148 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026. City of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
The budget lists headcount and salary totals by department. We found no published list of individual employee pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Hibbing 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: $18.4M (2024-12-31). The city's own target: The city aims to keep unrestricted general fund balance, including assigned amounts, at 50 to 65 percent of the next year's budgeted spending and transfers out. Unassigned balance alone equaled 83.2% of 2024 general fund spending, with another $11.1 million assigned. City of Hibbing · Jun 30, 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 FY2026.
Comes from
- Local Government Aid (state)$9.3M · 39%
- Property taxes$7.4M · 31%
- Charges for services (mostly ambulance)$2.4M · 10%
- Taconite aids and production tax$2.2M · 9%
- Other state and federal aid$964,237 · 4%
- Miscellaneous revenue$818,490 · 3%
- Licenses and permits$397,540 · 2%
- Other (fines, transfer from retiree benefit fund)$364,297 · 2%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$5.6M · 24%
- Ambulance$3.9M · 16%
- Streets and alleys$3.4M · 14%
- Parks, facilities and recreation (City Services)$1.7M · 7%
- Retiree health insurance$1.4M · 6%
- Fire$1.2M · 5%
- Finance$784,932 · 3%
- City garage$757,763 · 3%
- Other (general government, engineering, economic development, cemetery, other)$5.1M · 21%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. These are the rates the city used in its example for a $280,000 home. Taconite homestead credits then reduce the bill.
53¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Hibbing
- City of Hibbing89.39 · 53%
- St. Louis County54.28 · 32%
- Hibbing school district (ISD 701)22.19 · 13%
- Special taxing districts (HRA and others)1.65 · <1%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)167.51
Example tax capacity rates for a Hibbing home in the city's 2026 Truth-in-Taxation presentation. City of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Hibbing is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityHibbing Police DepartmentCity of Hibbing · Oct 10, 2026
- FireThe cityHibbing Fire Department27 career and 18 paid-on-call staff in three stations.City of Hibbing · Oct 10, 2026
- Ambulance and EMSThe cityHibbing Fire DepartmentAdvanced life support ambulance service.City of Hibbing · Oct 10, 2026
- Sanitary and storm sewerThe cityCity of Hibbing sewer fundFees are billed on Hibbing Public Utilities statements.City of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
- Garbage and recyclingThe cityCity of Hibbing sanitation fundCity of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity of Hibbing Public WorksCity of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityHibbing City Services DepartmentMore than 25 parks, trails and sports complexes, plus the Memorial Building ice arena.City of Hibbing · Oct 10, 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 | RogersMN | MonticelloMN | BemidjiMN | HibbingMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 15,606 | 15,670 | 15,770 | 15,823 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | $168,430 | $180,544 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $7,200 | Not confirmed | $7,200 |
| General fund per resident | $1,216 | $886 | $1,305 | $1,507 |
| Debt per resident | $1,986 | $895 | $3,529 | $579 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $303 | $134 | $342 | $427 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | 6.6 | 8.6 | 9.4 |
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 Hibbing publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe 2026 final budget book is posted on the city's annual budgets page. City of Hibbing · Oct 10, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe November 17, 2021 agenda lists approval of the administrator's contract, but we found no copy of the contract online. City of Hibbing · Nov 17, 2021
- No: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes name who moved and seconded each motion and record the result, not each member's vote. City of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentCity code section 2.49 sets the mayor's and council members' monthly salaries. City of Hibbing · Oct 15, 2012
- No: Employee pay publishedThe budget book lists headcount and salary totals by department. We found no list of individual employee pay. City of Hibbing · Dec 3, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- Local Government Aid of $9,349,909 is the largest general fund revenue in 2026, larger than the $7,389,212 property tax levy. How would the city adjust if state aid fell?
- Unassigned general fund balance was $18,446,864 at the end of 2024, or 83.2% of that year's spending. How does the council decide how much of it to keep?
- The 2026 budget sets $1,388,797 for retiree health insurance in the general fund. How is that cost expected to change in coming years?
- The city transferred $4,432,909 from the general fund to other funds in 2024. Which capital projects and reserves did it pay for?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Hibbing 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.