Budget Process
The city operates on a two-year budget cycle. It takes some strategic planning and long-term forecasting to do a budget this way. How much should the city spend on road salt? What kind of recreational programs do we need? How long will our police cars and fire trucks last?
City Budget
The city’s budget is a finance plan for city services that include:
- Public Safety (Police and Fire)
- Street Maintenance like street sweeping, snow plowing and engineering
- Park planning and maintenance
- Recreation and Parks facilities and programming
- Community Development activities, which bring in new businesses and industries
- Building Inspection and Code Enforcement
- Legislative and administrative operations like elections, human resources and communications
- Walk-in services like vehicle and DNR licensing
Preliminary levy
During budget season, which pretty much goes from May through the end of the year, there are lots of decisions that need to be made along the way before you ever get a bill.
One of the key budget moments is the City Council’s approval of the preliminary property tax levy. A levy is the total amount of money needed from property owners for cities to deliver services. Brooklyn Park council members set the levy in September. You get a notice from Hennepin County notifying you of the preliminary levy in November.
But that preliminary levy is simply that – preliminary. Brooklyn Park’s council members and city staff are currently fine-tuning the budget and levy to hold down tax increases to the minimum necessary to provide city services. The Council votes on the final levy amount in December, which determines your taxes.
May
- Staff introduces the budget process to Council
June
- Budget Advisory Commission reports to Council
August
- Economic Development Authority (EDA) discusses the preliminary budget
September
- Council discusses budget
- Council adopts a preliminary budget and tax levies
November
- Economic Development Authority (EDA) adopts a final budget
- Hennepin County mails the truth-in-taxation statements
- Council discusses budget
- Budget Advisory Commission reports to Council
December
- Council holds a truth-in-taxation public hearing
- Council adopts a final budget
Participate in the budget process
Do you feel like you don’t have a say about the taxes you pay? That’s not true. There are several ways you can get involved in the budget process to speak your mind.
Attend public meetings
There are meetings where Brooklyn Park’s elected officials hold public hearings to give residents and business owners the opportunity to voice their concerns on budget priorities.
Don’t have the time to come to a meeting? Here are other ways to get your voice heard.
Watch public meetings
Watch Brooklyn Park City Council meetings live at 7 p.m. on Monday nights on Comcast Cable Channel 16 or watch them online anytime.
Stay plugged in to budget news
Watch CCX Media’s daily newscasts or read the Brooklyn Park Sun Post’s weekly newspaper. Both media organizations have in-depth coverage of what’s happening at City Hall.
Read city correspondence
Be sure to read city correspondence such as Park Pages newsletter, this website or other official mailers from the city of Brooklyn Park.
Contact your elected officials
Contact the Mayor or your city council members with comments or concerns, as they ultimately make the final decision on budget issues.
Contact or join the Budget Advisory Commission
Contact members of the Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) or join the commission yourself. The BAC is a group of residents who take an in-depth look at the budget and advise the City Council of what they think the priorities for the budget should be.
Read more about the Budget Advisory Commission
Vote
And of course, vote in municipal elections.