How Red Wing is run
Who runs Red Wing, 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 Red Wing's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Red Wing
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
- $400 a month car allowance
- Six months of salary and benefits if let go after the first six months
- Credited with 20 years of service for benefits
- Same health, dental, life and disability insurance as other non-union staff
Red Wing city staff
199 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 36, Fire 18, Ambulance 17. 2025-12-31. Full-time equivalent employees on December 31, 2025, from the audited report's statistical section. City of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
The city posts the base salaries of its three highest paid employees, not pay by person. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Red Wing 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
Unassigned general fund balance: $26.4M (2025-12-31). City of Red Wing · May 12, 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
- Taxes$24M · 82%
- Intergovernmental (state aid and grants)$1.8M · 6%
- Charges for services$1.1M · 4%
- Use of fund balance$945,410 · 3%
- Investment income$617,639 · 2%
- Other taxes$325,125 · 1%
- Other (licenses, fines, miscellaneous and transfers in)$629,663 · 2%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Public safety (police, fire, emergency management)$12.1M · 41%
- Transfers to other funds$4.1M · 14%
- Public works and streets$4M · 14%
- Parks and recreation$3.6M · 12%
- General government$3M · 10%
- Community development$1.2M · 4%
- Other (cemetery, contingency, parking ramps, transit)$1.4M · 5%
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 city's own table of direct and overlapping rates from the Goodhue County Auditor. It leaves out school levies charged on market value.
57¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Red Wing
- City of Red Wing56.315 operating plus 10.652 for debt service.66.967 · 57%
- Goodhue County39.663 · 34%
- School district8.432 · 7%
- Special districts (Port Authority and HRA)2.633 · 2%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)117.695
Taxes payable 2025 tax capacity rates for property in Red Wing. City of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
Who provides your services
Not everything in Red Wing is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityRed Wing Police DepartmentCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- FireThe cityRed Wing Fire DepartmentCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- Ambulance and EMSThe cityCity ambulance serviceCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- Water and wastewaterThe cityCity water and wastewater utilityCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- Storm waterThe cityCity storm water utilityCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- Trash and recyclingThe cityCity refuse collection and recycling, plus a city solid waste campusCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity street and drainage construction and maintenanceCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- ParksThe cityCity parksCity of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- LibraryThe cityRed Wing Public Library (city library fund)City of Red Wing · May 12, 2026
- MarinaThe cityCity marinaCity of Red Wing · May 12, 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 | HibbingMN | Red WingMN | BuffaloMN | HugoMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 15,823 | 16,805 | 16,878 | 17,167 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | $182,125 | $170,726 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $7,200 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $6,500 |
| General fund per resident | $1,507 | $1,755 | $875 | $633 |
| Debt per resident | $579 | $925 | $4,838 | $846 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $427 | $555 | $251 | $62 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 11.8 | 7.9 | 1.9 |
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 pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Red Wing publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes record roll call votes by name, such as the 5-2 vote adopting the 2026 levy. City of Red Wing · Dec 8, 2025
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Red Wing · Oct 10, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no readable ordinance or budget line stating mayor or council pay. The budget shows only department totals. City of Red Wing · Dec 8, 2025
- Partly: Employee pay publishedThe city posts base salaries for its three highest paid employees. Pay by person is not posted. City of Red Wing · Jan 1, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Public safety is $12,132,392 of the $29,487,286 general fund budget for FY2026. How will police, fire and ambulance staffing costs be paid for in future years?
- The city's share of PERA pension liability was $9,326,466 at June 30, 2025. How will that affect future budgets?
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