How Chico is run
Who runs Chico, 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 Chico's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Chico
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day. The seven council members are elected by district to four-year staggered terms; the council sets policy and appoints the city manager, city clerk and city attorney.
What they are paid
- Nine months' salary as severance if fired without cause, which takes four council votes
- $400 a month car allowance
- $12,682.50 a year city contribution to her deferred compensation plan; she pays 3% of the city's CalPERS cost
- One-time $15,000 relocation allowance
- May join the city's health, dental and vision plans, paying part of the premium
- $75 a month cell phone stipend or reimbursement when using a personal phone for city business
- May borrow a city laptop or tablet
Chico city staff
479 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 192, Public works 112, Fire 68. FY2024-25. Budgeted full-time equivalent positions, up from 469 a year earlier and 355 in 2016. City of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
The city posts labor agreements and management employment contracts on its website; we found no city-posted list of individual employees' pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Chico 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: $4.9M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep an operating reserve of 7.5% of general and park fund operating spending, reported as unassigned fund balance; the audited report says it was fully funded on June 30, 2025. A separate emergency reserve with a 20% target is reported as committed: $11.7 million on June 30, 2025. City of Chico · Dec 30, 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
- Sales tax (the city's share of the statewide rate)$26M · 25%
- Measure H 1% local sales tax$25.3M · 24%
- Property tax$16.1M · 15%
- Property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees$11.7M · 11%
- Utility users tax$11.6M · 11%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy tax)$4.5M · 4%
- Other (other taxes and other revenues)$9.5M · 9%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$48.3M · 45%
- Fire$22.6M · 21%
- Public works engineering$18.4M · 17%
- Public works operations and maintenance$11.1M · 10%
- City clerk$2.1M · 2%
- Community development$2M · 2%
- City manager$1.7M · 2%
- Other (administrative services, city attorney)$1.5M · 1%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
California caps the base property tax at 1% of assessed value; voter-approved bond rates are added on top. The city itself levies no voter-approved rate.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Chico
- Base levy (Prop. 13 1% cap), split among the county, city, schools and other agencies1 · 87%
- Chico Unified School District (voter-approved bonds)0.11 · 10%
- Butte-Glenn Community College District (voter-approved bonds)0.04 · 3%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.15
FY2024-25 rates for a home in Chico (Butte County). City of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
See what a Chico house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Chico is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityChico Police DepartmentCity of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
- Sewer collection and treatmentThe cityCity of ChicoCity of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity of Chico Public WorksCity of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
- AirportThe cityChico Municipal Airport (City of Chico)City of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
- Planning, building and housingThe cityCity of Chico Community DevelopmentCity of Chico · Dec 30, 2025
- Residential trash, recycling and organicsContractorNorth Valley Waste Management (city franchise)Commercial service is split by zone between Recology Butte and Colusa Counties and Waste Management.City of Chico
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 | VenturaCA | ChicoCA | El MonteCA | West CovinaCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 108,061 | 108,113 | 108,192 | 108,937 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $321,173 | $285,000 | $389,953 | $249,562 |
| Council member pay | $7,200 | Not confirmed | $8,800 | $24,324 |
| General fund per resident | $1,423 | $997 | $1,078 | $915 |
| Debt per resident | $1,667 | $132 | $1,480 | $2,118 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $2,328 | $1,470 | $566 | $297 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 6.6 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 4.0 |
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). El Monte pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Chico publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: City manager's contract findable online City of Chico
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list AYES and NOES by member name, e.g. the June 2, 2026 meeting. City of Chico · Jun 2, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineAgendas, minutes and video for council meetings are on the city's Granicus portal. City of Chico
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document City of Chico · Jun 2, 2026
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Chico
Questions to ask your council
- The FY2026-27 general fund budget spends $107.8 million against $104.5 million of projected revenue. Which reserves cover the difference, and for how long?
- Unassigned general fund balance was $4.9 million on June 30, 2025, while the policy calls for an operating reserve of 7.5% of operating spending. How does the city measure that target?
- Measure H brings in about $25.3 million a year, a quarter of general fund revenue. What would change if it fell short?
Help decide what comes next
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Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
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