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2027 Local Government Aid Amounts Announced
The certified amounts give cities a clearer picture of the state aid they can expect as they prepare their 2027 budgets.
As cities prepare their 2027 budgets, the Minnesota Department of Revenue posted the certified amounts for 2027 local government aid (LGA) on its website.
The total amount of LGA certified for all cities in 2027 is $644 million, the same amount that was certified in 2025 and 2026. The department posted the amounts each city will receive on its website. In 2027, 741 cities will receive LGA and the aid will be paid by July 20, 2027, and Dec. 26, 2027.
View the 2027 LGA payments for each city (pdf).
Local government aid formula
Local government aid was created in 1971 by the Legislature, and the formula was last reworked in 2023. Each year the Department of Revenue determines a city’s share of the LGA distribution using a complex formula that compares a city’s expenditure need to its ability to pay.
Each city’s expenditure need is measured based on several factors that seek to identify characteristics that cause differences in the amount cities spend providing the same level of service. The calculated expenditure need is compared with the city’s ability to pay. This difference, or gap, is the city’s “unmet need.”
Cities with larger unmet need will receive more aid, while cities whose aid is higher than their unmet need will receive less aid than the previous year. No city’s aid can decrease from the previous year by more than $10 multiplied by their population, or 5% of its levy in the previous year, whichever is less.
In addition to LGA, cities receive state transportation aid with funding amounts varying based on city size and the programs for which they qualify. Read about estimated 2027 transportation state aids.