How Maple Grove is run
Who runs Maple Grove, 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 Maple Grove's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Maple Grove
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
Maple Grove city staff
297 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 103, Fire 14, Parks 47. FY2026. Permanent full-time equivalents in the 2026 budget, all funds. City of Maple Grove · Dec 15, 2025
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 Maple Grove 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: $15.3M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: Keep unassigned general fund balance at 15% to 25% of the next year's budgeted spending. At the end of 2025 it equaled 25.0% of 2026 budgeted spending. The city meets this target. City of Maple Grove · May 18, 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
- General property taxes$46M · 82%
- Licenses and permits$3.7M · 7%
- State and federal aid$2.7M · 5%
- Charges for services$1.6M · 3%
- Transfers in from other funds$1.2M · 2%
- Other (miscellaneous revenue and court fines)$635,000 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$18.8M · 34%
- Transfer to parks and recreation$7.1M · 13%
- Fire and fire inspections$6.3M · 11%
- Public works$5.2M · 9%
- Information technology$3M · 5%
- General government$2.7M · 5%
- Building inspections$2.7M · 5%
- Other (finance, engineering, government buildings, community development, community center transfer, HR, assessing)$10.2M · 18%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. This split leaves out voter-approved school levies charged on market value and the state general levy on business property.
30¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Maple Grove
- City of Maple Grove29.168 · 30%
- Hennepin County37.081 · 38%
- Osseo Area Schools (ISD 279)The southwest part of the city is in the Wayzata district.23.64 · 24%
- Other (Metropolitan Council, transit, Three Rivers Park District, mosquito control, HRA and others)7.509 · 8%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)97.398
Taxes payable 2025 tax capacity rates for property in Maple Grove (Hennepin County, Osseo school district). City of Maple Grove · May 18, 2026
See what a Maple Grove house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Maple Grove is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityMaple Grove Police DepartmentCity of Maple Grove · May 18, 2026
- Sewage treatmentAnother agencyMetropolitan CouncilCity of Maple Grove · May 18, 2026
- StreetlightsThe cityCity street light utilityPaid for with a quarterly fee on residential and commercial users.City of Maple Grove · May 18, 2026
- StreetsThe cityMaple Grove Public WorksCity of Maple Grove · May 18, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityMaple Grove Parks and RecreationCity of Maple Grove · May 18, 2026
- SchoolsSeparate districtOsseo Area Schools (ISD 279); Wayzata Public Schools (ISD 284) in the southwestCity of Maple Grove · May 18, 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 | St CloudMN | Maple GroveMN | BlaineMN | PlymouthMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 72,647 | 73,893 | 76,603 | 78,942 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | $252,000 | $225,000 | $248,350 |
| Council member pay | $12,500 | Not confirmed | $13,462 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,043 | $756 | $697 | $768 |
| Debt per resident | $2,612 | $1,525 | $2,283 | $661 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $344 | $202 | $177 | $214 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 7.1 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 4.1 |
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 Maple Grove 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 employment agreement on the city site or in 2026 council agendas. The city posts only her base salary. City of Maple Grove · Oct 10, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document City of Maple Grove · Oct 10, 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 Maple Grove · Oct 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Police is the largest general fund cost, at $18.8 million in the 2026 budget. What service levels does that amount pay for?
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $15.3 million at the end of 2025, 25.0% of 2026 budgeted spending, at the top of the 15% to 25% policy range. How does the council decide what to do with any amount above the range?
- Bonded debt rose $15.7 million in 2025, to $112.7 million. How much more borrowing does the capital plan expect?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Maple Grove 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.