How Oakdale is run
Who runs Oakdale, 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 Oakdale's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Oakdale
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
Oakdale city staff
134 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public safety (police, fire, EMS) 75, General government 26, Public works 22, Water 4, Sewer 4, Community service and recreation 3. FY2025. Full-time equivalent employees in 2025, from the audited report's statistical section. City of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
The city posts the base pay of its three highest-paid positions each year, as state law requires. We found no full employee pay list. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Oakdale 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: $16.2M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: The city aims to keep unassigned general fund balance between 45.83% and 50% (five and a half to six months) of the next year's budgeted spending. The audited report says the year-end 2025 balance equaled 64.87% of 2026 budgeted spending. City of Oakdale · Jun 1, 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 FY2025.
Comes from
- Property taxes$15.2M · 65%
- Transfers and other financing sources$1.8M · 8%
- Intergovernmental (state and county aid, grants)$1.7M · 7%
- Charges for services$1.5M · 6%
- Permits$1.3M · 6%
- Other taxes$623,000 · 3%
- Other (licenses, fines, miscellaneous)$1.2M · 5%
Goes to (FY2025)
- Police$7.7M · 33%
- Fire and EMS$4.4M · 19%
- Public works$4.1M · 17%
- Finance, HR and risk management$2.2M · 10%
- Administration$870,463 · 4%
- Information technology$738,718 · 3%
- Building maintenance$657,170 · 3%
- Other (legal, communications, community development, inspections, recreation, council)$2.7M · 12%
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 audited report's direct and overlapping rates. Some district rates apply only to part of the city, and voter-approved school levies charged on market value are left out.
40¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Oakdale
- City of OakdaleOperations 37.038 plus debt 4.358.41.396 · 40%
- School district32.002 · 31%
- Washington County23.846 · 23%
- Other districts5.971 · 6%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)103.215
2025 tax capacity rates for property in Oakdale (Washington County, ISD 622). City of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
See what a Oakdale home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Oakdale is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityOakdale Police DepartmentCity of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
- FireThe cityOakdale Fire DepartmentCity of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
- Ambulance and EMSThe cityOakdale Fire DepartmentCity of Oakdale · Oct 10, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity water utilityCity of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
- SewerThe cityCity sewer utilityCity of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity public worksCity of Oakdale · Jun 1, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity parks division and recreationOver 30 park and recreation locations.City of Oakdale · Oct 10, 2026
- Trash and recyclingPrivate companyLicensed private haulersOpen hauling: residents contract directly with a licensed hauler of their choice.City of Oakdale · Oct 10, 2026
- Property assessmentThe countyWashington CountyCity of Oakdale · 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 | RamseyMN | ChaskaMN | OakdaleMN | FridleyMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 29,624 | 30,513 | 30,588 | 30,829 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $208,079 | $196,664 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not current (2005) | Not confirmed | $9,600 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $769 | $1,198 | $764 | $842 |
| Debt per resident | $1,183 | $5,032 | $1,676 | $2,258 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $179 | $341 | $255 | $255 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 8.6 | 4.4 | 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 Oakdale 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 onlineThe administrator's April 2026 employment agreement was kept out of the public packet as nonpublic data. We found no published copy. City of Oakdale · Apr 14, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineMeetings stream live and on demand through the Agenda Center, which also posts agendas, packets and minutes. City of Oakdale · Oct 10, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentCity code sets pay from 2025 at $1,000 a month for the mayor and $800 for each council member, rising 3% a year from 2027. City of Oakdale · May 12, 2026
- Partly: Employee pay publishedThe city posts the base pay of its three highest-paid positions. We found no full employee pay list. City of Oakdale · Oct 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Police ($7,655,566) and fire and EMS ($4,404,836) were the largest parts of the $23,361,543 2025 general fund budget. How will the new police building and staffing change those costs?
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $16,156,142 at the end of 2025, 64.87% of the next year's budget against a 45.83% to 50% goal. How will the city use the amount above its range?
- Bonded debt reached $51,275,000 at the end of 2025, after a new bond issue that year. How much more borrowing do the police expansion and City Hall renovation need?
Help decide what comes next
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