Popular Annual Financial Report: Let's Get Connected

City of St. Louis Park

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2025

The City of St. Louis Park is pleased to present its 2025 Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR). St. Louis Park's fiscal year runs January 1 through December 31. The financial information in this report covers the period from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

The PAFR is presented in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and is a condensed version of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2025. Therefore, it does not include information on all City's funds. This report provides a summarized and easy-to read view of the city's major governmental and enterprise funds. The data includes both short-term financial information, such as revenues and expenditure for the reporting period, as well as longer-term financial measures such as net position. It is important to the City of St. Louis Park that residents and other interested members of the public understand how money is spent, what are the sources of city funding, and how the city plans for a strong financial future.

For a complete review of the city's financial position for 2025 consult the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, available on the city's webpage under Financial Reports or through the link HERE.

Table of Content

2. City Facts & City Government

3. Annual Statistics & Understanding Your Property Taxes

4. Budgeting & Fund Accounting

5. General Fund Revenues

6. General Fund Expenses

7. Development/Redevelopment & Long-Term Debt

8. Enterprise Funds

9. Net Position

10. Awards

City Facts

Established: November 19, 1886

Population: 50,027

Area: 10.8 square miles

Median age: 36

Median single family home value: $377,200

Unemployment rate: 3.4 percent

Per capita income: $64,370

Top 3 employers: Park Nicollet Health Services and Methodist Hospital (12%), Wells Fargo Mortgage (2.8%), and St. Louis Park Public Schools ISD 283 (1.9%)

City Government

The City of St. Louis Park is a first ring community located immediately west of Minneapolis. Thanks to its convenient location, St. Louis Park combines all the cultural amenities of a large metropolitan area with small town friendliness.

St. Louis Park operates under the council/manager form of government. Policy-making and legislative authority are vested in a City Council consisting of a mayor, two at-large council members, and four ward council members. The City Council is responsible, among other things, for passing ordinances, adopting the budget, appointing committees, and hiring the City Manager. The City Manager is responsible for carrying out the policies and ordinances of the council, for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the City government, and for appointing the heads of the various departments. The council is elected on a non-partisan basis. Council members serve four-year staggered terms.

The City of St. Louis Park provides a full range of services, including police and fire protection; redevelopment, the construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other infrastructure; water, sewer, storm water, and refuse services, as well as recreational activities and cultural events.

Every Piece Matters: Annual Statistics

Putting Together the Pieces: Understanding Your Property Taxes

Your tax dollar is divided among several governmental entities. For every dollar of 2025 taxes paid, 33 cents went to the City of St. Louis Park while the remaining 67 cents was divided amongst other taxing jurisdictions.

Property taxes are a vital funding source for local services provided by cities, counties, school districts, and other special tax districts. They fund street maintenance, public safety and emergency response, parks and recreation, election coordination, redevelopment investments, public education, courts, libraries, community events and so much more.

Unlike sales or income taxes, which can vary, the property tax is an exact levy to fund capital and operating budgets. The property tax levy is set annually and is adjusted as necessary to fund the cost of providing services. Charges for services are evaluated each year and adjusted to support operations and capital outlay. Before setting the levy, the city allocates all grants, program fees, and other non-property tax revenue to the appropriate services. The city then calculates the property tax levy based on how much additional funding is needed to provide all necessary services. 2025 saw a 7.52% property tax increase from 2024.

A Vital Piece: Budgeting and Planning

The annual budget serves as the foundation for the City of St. Louis Park’s financial planning and control. All departments and agencies of the City of St. Louis Park submit requests for appropriation to the City Manager in June of each year. The City Manager uses these requests as the starting point for developing a proposed budget. The City Manager then presents this proposed budget to the council for review prior to adoption of a preliminary tax levy by September 30. The council is required to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget and to adopt a final budget no later than December 28.

In addition to the annual budget process the City maintains a 10 year Long Range Financial Management Plan that incorporates anticipated revenues, expenditures, capital outlay, and tax impacts for all relevant funds. The plan anticipates opportunities or challenges, allows for changes to then be made, with the goal of achieving long-term sustainability. The plan is used in conjunction with the annual budget process and Capital Improvement Plan, which then allows the City Council to evaluate various budget decisions prior to adoption. This plan has proven its value by playing a significant role in maintaining the City’s AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s, which assists in keeping the costs of borrowing for the City of St. Louis Park at a low rate.

Puzzled? Let's Break it Down: Fund Accounting 101

Fund accounting is at the heart of financial reporting in the public sector. A fund is a grouping of related accounts that is used to maintain control over resources that have been set aside for specific activities or objectives. The City of St. Louis Park, like other state and local governments, uses fund accounting to show accountability and demonstrate compliance with finance-related legal requirements. All funds of the City can be divided into two categories: governmental funds and proprietary funds.

Governmental funds account for the City's basic operations, such as street maintenance, public safety, and recreation. Most services are financed by the general revenues of the City, the majority of these revenues come from property taxes.

Proprietary funds include enterprise and internal service funds. Enterprise funds account for the City's water, sewer, solid waste, and storm water operations. The internal service funds are used to accumulate and allocate costs internally among the City's various function. The City uses internal service funds to account for functions whose primary users are within the City organization, such as maintaining its fleet vehicles and information systems. Proprietary funds are managed like private industry, where costs are funded by fees and charges,

In the following pages we will dive deeper into the city's General fund and Enterprise funds.

General Fund: Every Piece Has its Place

The General Fund is the largest Governmental fund and also one of the most vital to the City's operations. The General fund is the primary operating fund for the city, providing the resources to sustain the daily activities for general government including items such as, public safety, operations, parks and recreation, race equity and sustainability. The General Fund relies on the inflow of cash, shown as revenues to support the outflow of operating costs for daily city function, shown expenditures.

General Fund Revenue

While the general fund has a number of revenue sources, including federal and state grants, the majority of the revenue (82%) comes from local revenues & local sales. Local revenues & local sales are made up of property taxes, licenses & permits, charges for services and miscellaneous revenues such as interest earnings and fees.

The City's total General fund revenue, excluding transfers, for 2025 was $55,015,435, with property taxes making up the bulk of the general fund's revenue at $38,486,909 or 69.96%. 2025 general fund revenue increased by $6,561,717 or 13.54% from 2024. The majority of this increase came from property taxes which increased by $4,492,934. The general fund saw additional revenue increases for total license and permit revenue, charges for services, and interest earnings totaling $1,934,312. The increase in property taxes was in part to offset decreases in other general fund revenue sources. In 2025, the City received $2,972,587 in state revenues, $96,737 less than what was received in 2024.

General Fund Expenditures

The graph below shows the 2025 General Fund expenditures broken down by department. The Police (22.4%) and Fire (11.8%) departments make up a significant portion of the general fund spending, highlighting the city's continual commitment to public safety. Parks and Recreation (23.24%) also make up a large portion of general fund expenses, reflecting the city's investment in community well-being and environmental stewardship. Administrative Services makes up 11.4% and Public Works makes up 7.1%, while the remaining 20.7% is comprised of Building & Energy (6.5%), Communication & Technology (4.9%), Community Development (4.3%), Engineering (2.1%), and General Fund Citywide (2.9%).

In 2025 the total expenditures, excluding transfers, in the General Fund were $56,063,838 which is a $4,290,852 or 8.29% increase from 2024. A significant portion of this increase came from increased General Fund Citywide expenditures which saw a $903,555 or 126.79% increase from 2024 to 2025. General Fund Citywide expenditures are tied to Public Safety Aid revenue received and is used for both Police and Fire expenditures. The sharp increase in 2025 Citywide expenditures in 2025 came from the purchase of new police vehicles and radios. Parks and Recreation was the only department to see a small decrease in expenditures from 2024 to 2025. This decrease was due to slightly lower repair and maintenance expenses in 2025.

Redevelopment/Development: Putting Together Solutions

The City of St. Louis Park is dedicated to supporting a diverse mix of housing and neighborhood-focused development. As the community grows, the city remains committed to expanding creative and inclusive housing options, preserving existing affordable housing, and encouraging the reinvestment and revitalization of neighborhood businesses and services to meet the needs of current and future residents.

Over the past several years, the city has seen significant redevelopment, resulting in new projects that include a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, along with commercial, retail, and service spaces that enhance neighborhood livability and support economic vitality.

Large development projects currently under construction include:

Beltline Boulevard Station

In 2025 construction began on Beltline Boulevard Station. This development will provide 380 residential units and 20,000 square feet of commercial space right on the light rail.

Terasa Development

Terasa at West End is a mixed-use multi-family and retail development. The property features 223 multifamily units, including 45 apartments affordable at 50% AMI (area median income), and 21,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Construction on the project will begin after calendar year 2025.

Long-Term Debt

The City of St. Louis Park used a debt service fund to track revenues and expenses related to the repayment of long-term debt. The City utilized debt issuance as a tool for the completion of larger capital projects. The City of St. Louis Park has an S&P Global credit rating of 'AAA", the highest rating given, which allows the City to borrow at lower rates. At the end of 2025 the City had total bonded debt outstanding of $80,570,000. Over the next two years, the city has two long term debt issuances that are funded by the property tax levy that are maturing.

2014A GO bond – Feb. 1, 2026 will be the final debt payments for this issuance. The city levied $594,405 in 2025 for principal and interest payments. In 2026, the city will levy $0 as there is sufficient 2014A sub-fund balance of the debt service fund to cover the remaining payments. The city is projected to have an excess of approximately $103,000 fund balance that will be transferred to the general fund in 2026 and can be used for regular general operations of the city.
2016A GO bond – Feb. 1, 2027 will be the final debt payments for this issuance. In 2025, the city levied $1,234,662.20 for principal and interest payments. The city has the authority to levy up to $1,232,457.20 in 2026. However, with the use of fund balance in the 2016A sub-fund of the debt service fund it has been determined that the city will only need to property tax levy for $590,000 to cover the remaining debt related payments of this issuance. This will decrease the anticipated 2026 property tax levy by $642,000.

Enterprise Funds: No Missing Pieces Here

Enterprise funds are run like a business, relying mainly on fees and charges for services to cover expenses. The city has four enterprise funds: water, sewer, storm water, and solid waste. The Water, Sewer & Stormwater utility enterprise funds are responsible for funding the operation and maintenance of the city’s water, sanitary sewer and stormwater collection systems, providing a supply of safe, high-quality water to city residents and providing efficient collection of wastewater. The Solid Waste utility enterprise fund is responsible for funding the pickup of all garbage, recycling, organics and yard waste for the community. These funds account for all activities necessary to provide services to residents including administration, operations, maintenance, billing and collection.

Proprietary funds distinguish operating revenues and expenses from nonoperating items. Operating revenues and expenses generally result from providing services and producing and delivering goods in connection with the fund's principal ongoing operations. The principal operating revenues of the water, sewer, solid waste and storm water enterprise funds are charged to customers for sales and services. Operating expenses for enterprise funds include the cost of sales and services, administrative expenses, and depreciation on capital assets. All revenue and expenses not meeting this definition are reported as nonoperating revenues and expenses.

The revenue from the utility enterprise funds goes to cover the cost of services and support the operations of the City's Public Works department.

The utilities division fixes water main breaks, repairs catch basins and manholes, cleans sewer mains, maintains the city’s 35 lift stations and takes water samples throughout the city. In 2025 the City's 6 water treatment plants produced 1.93 billion gallons of water, with roughly 5,000,000 gallons of water being treated each day. The City's Public Works division maintains 159.2 miles of water mains, 102.7 miles of storm sewer, and 136.6 miles of sanitary sewer.

The solid waste division provides curbside solid waste collection for single-family residential properties, ensures apartment buildings and businesses have recycling service, and hosts events like city cleanup days, swaps, paper shredding and Recycling Champions trainings. The city's curbside and multifamily organics drop-site program helped to keep 1,240,000 pounds of food scraps and other compostable materials out of the trash, that is more than the weight of five blue whales.

Condensed statement of net position

Net position is an important indicator of the City's overall financial health. The statement of net position presents information on all the City’s assets, deferred outflows of resources (e.g., prepaid items), liabilities and deferred inflows of resources (e.g., advance collections), with the difference between the two reported as net position. Over time, increases or decreases in net position may serve as a useful indicator of whether the financial position of the city is improving or deteriorating.

For the fiscal year 2025, the City’s total net position increased by $25.5 million or 10.8% to $261.9 million. The City has a solid financial position with 27.9% unrestricted net position, or $73.3 million. The unrestricted portion of net position may be used to meet the City’s ongoing obligations to citizens and creditors.

Two areas that can significantly change the city's net position due to market conditions are pension liability and OPEB.

Pension liability: the city participates in cost-sharing multiple-employer defined benefit pension plans administered by the Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota (PERA). Changes to the city’s share of the state’s net pension liability are included in the city’s net position.

OPEB: the city provides postemployment health care benefits through its group health insurance plan. Changes to actuarial valuations of the cost of the plan are included in the city’s net position.

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of St. Louis Park for its annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. This was the 42nd consecutive year that the government received this prestigious award. In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, a government must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR). The report must satisfy both generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements.

The City of St. Louis Park also received its second Award for Outstanding Achievement on Popular Annual Financial Reporting.