How Benicia is run
Who runs Benicia, 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 Benicia's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Benicia
Benicia is a general law city with a council-manager government. Voters elect the mayor and four council members to staggered four-year terms. The council passes ordinances, adopts the budget, and hires the City Manager and City Attorney. The City Manager runs daily operations and appoints department directors.
What they are paid
- 2.5% cost-of-living raise effective June 21, 2025, the same raise most employees received
- The city puts 6% of his salary into a deferred compensation plan
- The city puts 6.5% of his salary into a retiree health savings account
- The FY2026-27 budget sets aside $42,046 for council benefits
Benicia city staff
218 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public works (including water and wastewater) 74, Police 48, Fire 37, Community services (library and recreation) 16, Finance 13, Development services 13. FY2026-27. Authorized full-time equivalent positions in all city funds. The budget cut staffing from over 235 a few years earlier and included the first layoffs in over 40 years. City of Benicia · Jun 17, 2025
The city posts a salary schedule with monthly pay ranges for every job, adopted by council resolution. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Benicia 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.
The city's own outlook
The FY2026-27 general fund budget is balanced at $67.9M without using reserves. In April 2025 Valero told the city it planned to idle or stop refining at the Benicia Refinery by the end of April 2026. A study for the city projects a revenue loss of about $10.7M a year: $7.7M in the general fund and $3.0M in the water fund. The loss is not expected all at once, and staff will return to the council with budget reductions. Valero's utility users tax is set by agreement through December 2026. City of Benicia · Apr 20, 2026
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $10.7M (2025-06-30). City of Benicia · Apr 20, 2026
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 taxes$24.9M · 37%
- Sales taxes (including voter-approved Measures C and B)$21.5M · 32%
- Utility users tax (more than half from Valero)$8M · 12%
- Charges for services$5.9M · 9%
- Franchise fees$2.8M · 4%
- Other (hotel and other taxes, permits, interest and rents, fines, misc.)$4.8M · 7%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Salaries$27.3M · 40%
- Benefits (including pensions)$17.3M · 25%
- Professional and technical services$11.1M · 16%
- Transfers to other funds and debt service$3.7M · 5%
- Other expenses$2.9M · 4%
- Other (supplies, utilities, cost allocations, equipment)$5.5M · 8%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Most of the bill is the 1% base levy that Proposition 13 caps; the county splits it among the city, the county, schools and special districts. The city's share of the base levy is about 0.27%. The rest pays for voter-approved school bonds and other rates. The city has no voter-approved debt rate of its own.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Benicia
- 1% base levy (shared by the city, county, schools and districts)1 · 84%
- School district bonds0.1423 · 12%
- Other voter-approved rates0.0514 · 4%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.19373
FY2024-25 rates for a home in Benicia (Solano County). City of Benicia · Apr 20, 2026
See what a Benicia home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Benicia is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityBenicia Police DepartmentCity of Benicia · Apr 20, 2026
- Fire and paramedic emergency medical servicesThe cityBenicia Fire DepartmentParamedic-level EMS, rescues and hazardous materials response, 24 hours a day.City of Benicia · Jun 17, 2025
- WaterThe cityCity of Benicia Water EnterpriseThe city runs its own water treatment plant and also supplies untreated water to the Valero refinery.City of Benicia · Jun 17, 2025
- Sewer and wastewater treatmentThe cityCity of Benicia Wastewater EnterpriseCity of Benicia · Jun 17, 2025
- LibraryThe cityBenicia Public LibraryCity of Benicia · Apr 20, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of BeniciaCity of Benicia · Apr 20, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity of Benicia Public WorksPothole repair, paving patches, signs, traffic signals and streetlights. Voter-approved Measure F sales tax pays for road repairs.City of Benicia · Jun 17, 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 | Imperial BeachCA | BeniciaCA | EurekaCA | El CerritoCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 26,066 | 26,074 | 26,163 | 26,166 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $262,668 | $242,534 | Not confirmed | $302,820 |
| Council member pay | $11,400 | Not confirmed | $6,000 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,231 | $2,603 | $1,703 | $2,203 |
| Debt per resident | $19 | $831 | $885 | $524 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $495 | $3,547 | $2,502 | $3,177 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 4.8 | 8.4 | 10.1 | 6.5 |
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). Imperial Beach and El Cerrito pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Benicia publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list the mover and seconder of each motion and name every member voting aye or no on roll calls. City of Benicia · Sep 1, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Benicia
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Benicia · Oct 21, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- A city study projects that the Valero refinery's closure could cost the general fund about $7.7 million a year, against a $67.9 million general fund budget for FY2026-27. Which services and costs will the council look at first?
- Valero's utility users tax payments are set by agreement only through December 2026, and the FY2026-27 budget counts on $8.0 million of utility users tax, more than half of it from Valero. What is the plan for the general fund after that?
- The general fund took in $10.9 million more than it spent in FY2024-25, and its unassigned balance reached $10.7 million on June 30, 2025. How much of that should be held back for the expected revenue loss?
- The city's two CalPERS plans were about $92.5 million short on June 30, 2025. How will the city keep up pension payments if refinery revenue falls?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Benicia adopts a two-year budget. For FY2025-26 and FY2026-27, the council held budget study sessions on May 6 and May 20, 2025, reviewed the proposed budget on June 3, 2025, and adopted it on June 17, 2025. Staff review general fund results with the council each quarter. See who is running for council
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