How Maplewood is run
Who runs Maplewood, 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 Maplewood's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Maplewood
Maplewood is a statutory city run under Plan B, the council-manager plan. The mayor and four council members, elected at large to four-year staggered terms, set policy and adopt the budget. The council appoints a full-time city manager, who runs city business and hires department heads.
What they are paid
Maplewood city staff
185 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2025. Budgeted full-time-equivalent employees for 2025, 5.0 more than the prior year. The total includes 178 full-time and 8 part-time employees. City of Maplewood · Dec 9, 2024
We found no posted employee pay list or salary schedule. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Maplewood 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 2025 budget was balanced with no planned increase in reserves. The 2025 levy rose 12.49%, mainly for labor contracts and pay adjustments. For 2026, the city said the owner of a median value home would pay $139 more in city tax. City of Maplewood · Dec 9, 2024
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $18M (2024-12-31). City of Maplewood · Jun 25, 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 FY2025.
Comes from
- Property taxes$23.3M · 81%
- Licenses and permits$1.6M · 6%
- Transfers in from other funds$1.5M · 5%
- Intergovernmental (state aid and grants)$1.3M · 5%
- Charges for services$710,900 · 2%
- Other (fines, investment income, miscellaneous)$299,900 · 1%
Goes to (FY2025)
- Police$13.4M · 47%
- Public works$3.9M · 14%
- Fire and emergency medical services$3.8M · 13%
- Administration$2.4M · 8%
- Community development$2.1M · 7%
- Parks and recreation$1.9M · 7%
- Other (finance, legislative)$1.2M · 4%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. Parts of the city are in the Roseville (623) or White Bear Lake (624) school districts instead. About one-third of owners also pay other district rates (10.009 in 2024), which are left out here.
36¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Maplewood
- City of Maplewood (operating and debt service)42.621 · 36%
- Ramsey County45.455 · 39%
- School District 622 (North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale)29.55 · 25%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)117.626
2024 tax capacity rates for property in Maplewood (Ramsey County, ISD 622). City of Maplewood · Jun 25, 2025
See what a Maplewood house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Maplewood is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityMaplewood Police DepartmentCity of Maplewood · Jun 25, 2025
- FireThe cityMaplewood Fire DepartmentCity of Maplewood · Jun 25, 2025
- RecyclingContractorContracted haulerCity of Maplewood · Dec 9, 2024
- StreetsThe cityCity public worksCity of Maplewood · Jun 25, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity parks and recreationCity of Maplewood · Jun 25, 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 | RichfieldMN | Inver Grove HeightsMN | MaplewoodMN | Cottage GroveMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 36,593 | 36,873 | 40,717 | 43,604 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $234,998 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $11,128 | $8,200 | Not confirmed | $10,057 |
| General fund per resident | $960 | $998 | $706 | $714 |
| Debt per resident | $1,897 | $797 | $1,195 | $1,399 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $339 | $274 | $317 | $229 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 6.7 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 |
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 Maplewood 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 Manager contract on the city site. Council packets are posted as scanned images. City of Maplewood · Oct 10, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe council page links minutes, agendas and packets and video of council meetings. City of Maplewood · Oct 10, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no readable document stating council pay. The 2025 budget shows only the legislative department total. City of Maplewood · Dec 9, 2024
- No: Employee pay publishedThe Transparency Center lists budgets and audits but no employee pay list or salary schedule. City of Maplewood · Oct 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Police is $13,421,801 of the $28,761,947 2025 general fund budget. What drives that cost from year to year?
- The city carried $48,665,000 in general obligation bonds at the end of 2024, mostly for street improvements. How much new borrowing does the capital plan expect?
- The 2025 levy rose 12.49%, and the city said a median value home would pay $139 more in 2026. Why have the 2025 audited report and the 2026 budget not been posted yet?
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