How Lakeville is run
Who runs Lakeville, 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 Lakeville's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Lakeville
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
- Council members are covered by the PERA Defined Contribution Plan
Lakeville city staff
285 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police officers (sworn) 70, Fire (excluding volunteer firefighters) 28. FY2025. City of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
The city posts the base pay of its three highest-paid employees. We found no city-published pay list for all employees. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Lakeville 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.
The city's own outlook
The city uses long-term financial planning models for its funds. The 2026 general fund budget plans $47.5 million in revenue and $46.6 million in spending, uses $175,000 of fund balance for the one-time 2050 Comprehensive Plan update, and projects a year-end fund balance of $24.1 million, 50% of next year's spending. The preliminary 2027 budget raises general fund spending 5.8% and uses $135,000 of reserves. City of Lakeville · Dec 1, 2025
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $24.5M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: Keep unrestricted general fund balance (committed, assigned and unassigned) between 40 and 50 percent of the next year's budgeted operating spending. At the end of 2025 it equaled 54.1 percent of 2026 budgeted spending. City of Lakeville · Jul 20, 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$34.5M · 73%
- State aid$4.3M · 9%
- Licenses and permits$3.7M · 8%
- Charges for services$3.6M · 8%
- Miscellaneous and investment income$1.1M · 2%
- Other (court fines and transfers in)$350,000 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$17.7M · 38%
- General government (administration, finance, IT, HR, legal, clerk)$8.9M · 19%
- Public works$7.2M · 15%
- Fire$6.4M · 14%
- Parks and recreation$6.3M · 14%
- Other (transfers out)$71,000 · 0%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. Parts of Lakeville are in ISD 192 or ISD 196, which have different school rates. This split leaves out voter-approved school levies charged on market value.
38¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Lakeville
- City of Lakeville32.731 · 38%
- Independent School District No. 19429.927 · 35%
- Dakota County19.948 · 23%
- Other (Metropolitan Council, mosquito control, transit, Dakota County CDA, Vermillion River Watershed)3.325 · 4%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)85.931
Taxes payable 2025 tax capacity rates for property in Lakeville in ISD 194 (Dakota County). City of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
See what a Lakeville home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Lakeville is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityLakeville Police DepartmentCity of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- FireThe cityLakeville Fire DepartmentFour stations with full-time and paid-on-call firefighters. A federal SAFER grant (2025 to 2028) reimburses wages for 18 full-time firefighters.City of Lakeville · Dec 1, 2025
- Emergency medical responseThe cityLakeville Fire DepartmentCity of Lakeville · Dec 1, 2025
- 911 dispatchAnother agencyDakota 911 Joint Powers OrganizationCity of Lakeville · Dec 1, 2025
- WaterThe cityCity utilityCity of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- Sewage treatmentAnother agencyMetropolitan Council Environmental ServicesCity of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- StreetlightsThe cityCity utilityCity of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- StreetsThe cityLakeville Public WorksCity of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityLakeville Parks and RecreationCity of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- Liquor storesThe cityCity of LakevilleThe city runs four off-sale liquor stores.City of Lakeville · 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 | BlaineMN | PlymouthMN | LakevilleMN | WoodburyMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 76,603 | 78,942 | 79,270 | 81,558 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $225,000 | $248,350 | $261,483 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $13,462 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $697 | $768 | $588 | $762 |
| Debt per resident | $2,283 | $661 | $2,251 | $776 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $177 | $214 | $172 | $197 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 3.4 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.8 |
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). Blaine pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Lakeville publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted online City of Lakeville · Oct 10, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no city administrator employment agreement on the city site. The salary notice lists only base pay. City of Lakeville · Jan 2, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list who moved and seconded and name each member voting aye, such as Roll Call - Ayes: Volk, Bermel, Wolter. City of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineCouncil meetings stream live and are posted for online viewing. Agendas, minutes and videos are on the city site and its Laserfiche archive. City of Lakeville · Oct 10, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe audit states $53,848 in 2025 personnel costs for the mayor and council combined. We found no document stating each member's pay. City of Lakeville · Jul 20, 2026
- Partly: Employee pay publishedAs state law requires, the city posts base pay for its three highest-paid jobs. We found no full pay list. City of Lakeville · Jan 2, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Unrestricted general fund reserves equaled 54.1% of 2026 budgeted spending, above the city's 40% to 50% range. How does the council decide what to do with the amount above the range?
- Bonds, loans and county advances totaled $178.4 million at the end of 2025. How much more borrowing does the city's capital plan expect?
- The general fund took in $46.2 million and spent $42.2 million in 2025. Why does the 2026 budget plan spending of $46.6 million?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Lakeville 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.