How Hugo is run
Who runs Hugo, 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 Hugo's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Hugo
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
Hugo city staff
33 full-time-equivalent positions, including General government 7, Fire and building inspections 8, Streets 8, Parks 5, Water and sewer 5. FY2025. Full-time equivalent city employees in 2025, from the audited report's statistical section (based on adopted budgets). City of Hugo · Aug 7, 2026
The general fund budget lists budgeted wages by position, such as the finance director and city clerk. We found no full employee pay list. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Hugo 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: $5.4M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: The city aims to keep general fund balance equal to six months, or 50% of the next year's budgeted operating spending. At the end of 2025 unassigned balance was 71 percent of 2025 general fund spending. City of Hugo · Aug 7, 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$9.9M · 91%
- State aid (street maintenance, fire insurance aid)$397,431 · 4%
- Transfers in$166,190 · 2%
- Franchise fees$144,130 · 1%
- Building and other permits$87,343 · 1%
- Charges for services$76,316 · 1%
- Other (licenses, fines, rent, county grants, other)$134,649 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Public works and streets$2.9M · 26%
- General government$2.6M · 24%
- Police (Washington County Sheriff contract)$1.8M · 16%
- Parks and recreation$1.2M · 11%
- Fire$1.2M · 11%
- Building inspections$675,631 · 6%
- Other (unallocated, community development, animal control)$475,348 · 4%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Hugo is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe countyWashington County Sheriff's OfficeThe city pays the county an hourly rate. 2026 fees are estimated at about $1,769,000.City of Hugo · Aug 7, 2026
- FireThe cityHugo Fire DepartmentA paid-per-call department.City of Hugo · Oct 10, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity of HugoCity of Hugo · Aug 7, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity of HugoCity of Hugo · Aug 7, 2026
- SewerThe cityCity of HugoCity of Hugo · Aug 7, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of HugoCity of Hugo · Aug 7, 2026
- Building inspectionsThe cityCity of HugoCity of Hugo · Dec 1, 2025
- Property assessingThe countyWashington CountyCity of Hugo · Dec 1, 2025
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 | Red WingMN | BuffaloMN | HugoMN | AnokaMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 16,805 | 16,878 | 17,167 | 18,169 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $182,125 | $170,726 | Not confirmed | $214,926 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $6,500 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,755 | $875 | $633 | $986 |
| Debt per resident | $925 | $4,838 | $846 | $2,421 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $555 | $251 | $62 | $316 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 11.8 | 7.9 | 1.9 | 6.9 |
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). Hugo and Anoka pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Hugo 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 employment agreement for the city administrator on the city website. City of Hugo · Oct 10, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe council page links to meeting videos, agenda packets and minutes, and the Laserfiche archive. City of Hugo · Oct 10, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe 2026 budget lists $8,125 for the mayor and $6,500 for each council seat. City of Hugo · Dec 1, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- Unassigned general fund balance was $5,434,394 at the end of 2025, about half of the 2026 general fund budget of $10,868,790. How does the city decide how much to move to capital funds each year?
- Building and other permits are budgeted at $87,343 for 2026, while 2025 general fund revenue came in at $11,553,189 against spending of $7,660,953. Should the budget plan for more of the revenue that growth brings?
- Police service from the Washington County Sheriff is budgeted at $1,783,364 for 2026. How does the city judge whether the hours it buys match its growth?
The fiscal year starts January 1. Departments send budget requests to the finance director in August. The council holds work sessions and public hearings and must adopt a budget by December 31. The 2026 budget was adopted December 1, 2025. See who is running for council
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