The City of St. Louis Park is pleased to present its second Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR). 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, 2024. This report provides a summarized and easy-to read view of the city's major governmental and enterprise funds. 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 2024 consult the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, available HERE

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's revenue comes from a number of sources including property taxes; licenses and permits; intergovernmental dollars; charges for services; fines and forfeitures; interest income and miscellaneous revenues. 

Your tax dollar is divided among several governmental entities. As the graph above shows, for every dollar of taxes paid, 35 cents went to the City of St. Louis Park while the remaining 65 cents went to other taxing jurisdictions. 

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. 

 The cost of city services for the owner of a median-valued, single-family home in St. Louis Park with an assessor's market value of $373,300 was $1,633.32 annually, or $136.11 a month. Below is a breakdown of the monthly cost broken down by function. 

General government: includes administrative services, Finance, Assessing, Human resources, community development, facilities maintenance,  and communications and technology. Also contained in general government is Race, Equity, and Inclusion (REI), and sustainability, shown in ACFR under miscellaneous. 

Public safety: includes Police, Fire Protection and Building & Energy. 

Operations: made up of Public Works, Vehicle Maintenance, and Engineering. 

Parks and Recreation: includes Parks and Recreation, Recreation Center, Park Maintenance, Westwood Hills, Nature Center, and Natural Resources. 

Capital Fund: encompasses the Park Improvement and Pavement management funds. Accounts for transactions related to work completed on streets, sidewalks, trails and other capital projects.

Capital Replacement: supports the maintenance and replacement of city's capital assets.

Debt Services: payments made on the principal and interest on long-term general obligation debt.

Economic Development:  supports redevelopment efforts in the city.

Housing Redevelopment Authority: supports operations related to maintaining and developing affordable housing and other housing opportunities.

The City of St. Louis Park is committed to providing a broad range of housing and neighborhood-oriented development by expanding 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. Highlighted below are some of the larger projects completed in the past couple of years. These new developments contain market rate and affordable housing units, and commercial, retail, and service spaces to create more livable neighborhoods and promote economic vitality. All of these developments were built to meet Leadership in Energy and Enviromental Design (LEED) or National Green Building standards and each have a significant amount of affordable housing that will remain affordable for at least 25 years.

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. These funds account for all activities necessary to provide water, sewer, storm drain and solid waste services to residents including administration, operations, maintenance, billing and collection.

Water fund: In 2024 expenses to the water fund included the production 1.83 billion gallons of water, operating six water treatment plants, and maintaining the 159 miles of watermain in the city. 

Sewer fund: In 2024 expenses to the sewer fund included the maintenance of 23 sewer lift stations and 137 miles of sewermain. 

The expenses for enterprise funds increased 15.34% increase in 2024. While the city's enterprise fund has been trending upwards over the past few years due to inflation, the 2024 increase was primarily driven by higher solid waste expenses with new hauler contracts. These expenses also include capital work, such as work on the sewer and watermain lines, depreciated or spread out over its useful life.

Revenues for enterprise funds continue to trend upwards with an 11.86% increase from 2023. The increase in revenue was primarily caused by increase charges for services, particularly solid waste, and an increase in operating grants and contributions which increased from 1% of total revenue in 2023 to 5% in 2024.

The city maintains a ten-year Longer Range Financial Management Plan that looks at anticipated revenues, expenditures, capital outlay, and tax impacts. 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", the highest possible rating, bond rating from Standard & Poor’s. Bond ratings are a reflection of the city’s financial strength and stability. By receiving the top credit rating, the city of St Louis Park receives the lowest possible borrowing costs on current and future debt issuances.

In 2024 the city issued two new general obligation bonds. 2024A was issued to help finance local street rehabilitation projects and construction on Minnetonka Boulevard, done in partnership with Hennepin County and 2024B issued to help finance utility system projects within the city water infrastructure. 

At the end of 2024 the city had a total bonded principal debt outstanding of $87,840,000. Of this amount, $62,730,000 is debt issued for improvement and capital projects. The remaining $25,110,000 of the city's bonded debt represents general obligation bonds. The city issues general obligation bonds, to provide funds for the acquisition and construction of major capital facilities.

The Government Finance Officers Association of 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 Dec. 31, 2023. This is the 41st consecutive year that the city has received this prestigious award.

Last year the City of St. Louis Park also completed its first-ever Popular Annual Financial Report, which received an award for Outstanding Financial Reporting.