How Delano is run
Who runs Delano, 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 Delano's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Delano
A city manager appointed by the council runs the city day to day and appoints department heads. The five-member council, elected at large, sets policy and adopts the budget. The council picks one of its members as mayor each year.
What they are paid
- Council travel, conference and training budget: $12,000 a year
Delano city staff
243 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public safety 85, General government 46, Public works 33, Water 25, Transit 18. FY2026-27. Full-time positions funded in the FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 budgets, plus 23 part-time positions. City of Delano · Jun 9, 2025
The split counts full-time employees at June 30, 2025 from the audited report. The city posts salary schedules for every bargaining group on its HR page. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Delano 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: $8.5M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Strive to keep general fund reserves of at least 75% of budgeted general fund appropriations (Resolution 2018-62), with amounts above that moved to capital project reserves. The audit's notes cite a 50% level. The budget expects a reserve of about $17.5 million, or 50% of the general fund budget, at the end of FY2026-27. City of Delano · 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
- Measure U sales tax (local 1% sales tax)$8.3M · 23%
- Sales and use tax$8.2M · 22%
- Property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees$7M · 19%
- Property tax (current secured)$3M · 8%
- Investment income$2.5M · 7%
- Administrative overhead charged to other funds$2M · 5%
- Other (other property taxes, transient occupancy tax, franchise fees, permits, charges, grants, transfers in)$5.7M · 15%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$16.6M · 45%
- Non-departmental (transfers to capital projects, sewer and other funds, senior utility discount)$3.6M · 10%
- Fire (Kern County Fire Department contract)$3.3M · 9%
- Parks maintenance$2.5M · 7%
- Recreation$1.5M · 4%
- Government buildings$1.4M · 4%
- Other (council, city manager, attorney, clerk, finance, HR, planning, engineering, building, code enforcement, animal control)$7.8M · 21%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a typical Delano homeowner pays, about 17 cents goes to the city. The audit's table also lists McFarland Unified school bonds; not every overlapping rate applies to every property.
17¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Delano
- Kern County, schools and other agencies (share of the 1% base levy)The 1% base levy minus the city's share0.80575 · 72%
- City of Delano (share of the 1% base levy)0.19425 · 17%
- Delano Union School District bonds0.04789 · 4%
- Delano Joint Union High School District bonds0.034 · 3%
- Kern Community College District bonds0.03326 · 3%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.11515
FY2024-25 rates for a typical home in the city of Delano (Kern County). City of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Delano is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- 911 dispatchThe cityDelano Police Department Public Safety Dispatch CenterCity of Delano
- FireThe countyKern County Fire DepartmentCity of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
- WaterThe cityCity of Delano Public Works, Water DivisionCity of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
- Sewer and wastewater treatmentThe cityCity of Delano Public WorksCity of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
- TrashThe cityCity of Delano Refuse DepartmentCity of Delano
- City streetsThe cityCity of Delano Public WorksCity of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of DelanoCity of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
- Public transitThe cityDelano Area Rapid Transit (city-run)City of Delano · Dec 30, 2025
- AirportThe cityDelano Municipal Airport (city-run)City of Delano · Dec 30, 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 | Palm DesertCA | DelanoCA | ColtonCA | Huntington ParkCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 52,326 | 52,384 | 52,844 | 52,961 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $294,975 | Not confirmed | $336,000 | $270,000 |
| Council member pay | $37,380 | Not confirmed | $5,280 | $27,276 |
| General fund per resident | $2,151 | $701 | $1,438 | $827 |
| Debt per resident | $22 | $739 | $1,142 | $73 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $778 | $478 | $2,447 | $1,372 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 4.6 | 7.2 | 5.0 |
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). Palm Desert and Delano and Huntington Park pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Delano publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe two-year FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 budget, adopted June 9, 2025, is posted as a PDF. City of Delano · Jun 9, 2025
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no posted employment agreement. An April 2026 agenda item amended the contract but did not attach it. City of Delano · Apr 6, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member online City of Delano · Sep 8, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe budget shows $60,000 a year for council pay in total, but no document we found states each member's pay. City of Delano · Jun 9, 2025
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Delano · Jul 20, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Voters made the 1% local sales tax permanent in November 2025. The FY2026-27 budget counts $8,346,657 from it. How will the city report what it pays for?
- Unassigned general fund balance was $8.5 million on June 30, 2025, and the city aims to hold reserves of 75% of general fund appropriations. How much of the general fund balance counts toward that goal?
- The city's own employee pension plan was 75.92% funded, with a $17.6 million shortfall. What is the plan to close it?
- The Kern County Fire contract costs $3,342,745 in FY2026-27. How is the contract price set, and what does it include?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Delano adopts a two-year budget: the city manager and finance director present it at a public hearing in May or June, and the council must adopt it before July 1. The FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 budget was adopted June 9, 2025. See who is running for council
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Delano next?
One tap, no sign-in. We count answers; we never show who chose what.
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?
See something wrong? Report an error
Something wrong or missing? Tell us what and where, with a link to a source if you have one. Reports feed the next verification run.