How Albany is run
Who runs Albany, 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 Albany's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Albany
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
- An extra 5% of base salary as longevity pay for ten or more years with the city
- An extra 2.5% of base salary plus longevity pay as incentive pay, as other managers receive
- Automatically receives any cost-of-living raises given to management employees
- Other benefits from the management and confidential employees benefits booklet
- Same health insurance as full-time city employees
- Same dental plan as management employees
- Option to join the CalPERS pension plan
- $10,000 term life insurance
Albany city staff
118 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 39, Fire 24, Public works 16, Recreation & community services 13, Community development 9. FY2026-27. City of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
The city posts its salary schedule, union agreements and the city manager's contract amendments. We found no city list of pay by employee. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Albany 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 against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $653,539 (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep total general fund reserves of at least 25% of adopted expenses. The city counts an $8.3 million assigned general fund reserve toward this target; with it, the unrestricted general fund balance was $9.72 million, 27.73% of spending, above the 25% target. The unassigned balance alone was 1.86% of spending. City of Albany · Dec 1, 2025
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 FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Property tax$10.9M · 31%
- Franchise and other taxes (utility users, business license, property transfer)$7.8M · 22%
- Transfers in from special revenue funds$6.4M · 18%
- Sales and use taxes$4.9M · 14%
- Charges for services$1.4M · 4%
- Other (permits, fines, interest, other agencies, other, and revenue added in the June 2026 amendment)$4.2M · 12%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$9.4M · 26%
- Administration (council, manager, clerk, HR, attorney, IT, finance, risk management)$7.7M · 22%
- Public works$5M · 14%
- Non-departmental (incl. CalPERS unfunded liability payment)$4.6M · 13%
- Fire$4.1M · 11%
- Recreation & community services$2.9M · 8%
- Other (community development)$1.9M · 5%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Every property pays the 1% base levy, which the county collects and shares. Voter-approved add-ons for Albany schools, the city's own levy, the community college, BART, a county bond and regional parks bring the total to about 1.37%.
9¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Albany
- 1% base levy (shared by the county, city, schools and others)1 · 73%
- Albany Unified School District0.18 · 13%
- City of Albany0.1255 · 9%
- Peralta Community College District0.0394 · 3%
- BART0.0148 · 1%
- Alameda County general obligation bond0.0089 · <1%
- East Bay Regional Park District0.0013 · <1%
- Total (percent of assessed value)1.3699
FY2024-25 rates for a home in the city of Albany (Alameda County). City of Albany · Dec 1, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Albany is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityAlbany Police DepartmentCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- FireThe cityAlbany Fire DepartmentCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- Ambulance and paramedicsThe cityAlbany Fire DepartmentPartly paid by the Measure K parcel tax and ambulance billingCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- 911 dispatchThe cityAlbany Police DepartmentAlso dispatches for the Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District under contractCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- Sewer collectionThe cityCity of Albany Public WorksCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- Streets, parks and city buildingsThe cityCity of Albany Public WorksCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- RecreationThe cityCity of Albany Recreation & Community ServicesCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- Public schoolsSeparate districtAlbany Unified School DistrictCity of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
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 | AlbanyCA | DixonCA | OrovilleCA | GreenfieldCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 20,564 | 20,567 | 20,664 | 20,918 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $326,934 | $290,000 | $225,312 | $267,093 |
| Council member pay | $11,400 | $6,576 | Not current (2022) | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,731 | $1,793 | $1,492 | $1,018 |
| Debt per resident | $787 | $940 | $784 | $304 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $2,122 | $1,375 | $550 | $350 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 5.8 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 5.8 |
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). Oroville pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Albany publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted online City of Albany · Jun 2, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineSigned resolutions list each member's vote by name, such as the 4-0 vote with one absent amending the budget on June 15, 2026. City of Albany · Jun 15, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe FY2026-27 salary schedule lists council members at $950 a month. City of Albany · Jul 1, 2026
- Partly: Employee pay publishedThe city posts its salary schedule and union agreements. We found no city list of pay by employee. City of Albany
Questions to ask your council
- The general fund's unassigned balance was $653,539 on June 30, 2025, 1.86% of spending, while an $8.3 million assigned reserve covers the 25% target. When would the council draw on that assigned reserve?
- In FY2024-25 general fund spending exceeded revenue by $6.42 million before transfers, and the balance fell $2.11 million. What keeps FY2026-27 from repeating that?
The fiscal year starts July 1. The council adopts a two-year budget in June of odd-numbered years after May workshops, reviews it at midyear each February, and adopts amendments to the second year each June. It adopted the FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 budget on June 2, 2025 and amended it on June 15, 2026. See who is running for council
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