How East Palo Alto is run
Who runs East Palo Alto, 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 East Palo Alto's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs East Palo Alto
A city manager appointed by the council is the chief executive and appoints the department directors. The five council members serve overlapping four-year terms and set policy; the council also appoints the city attorney. The council is also the board of the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, which became part of the city on Oct. 1, 2024.
What they are paid
- Severance of six months' total compensation if fired without cause after six months
- CalPERS Classic pension (2.5% at 55); he pays the employee share
- City pays 100% of his medical premium and 65% for dependents
- Car allowance of $300 a month
- City pays his ICMA dues
East Palo Alto city staff
130 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 50, Public Works 25. FY2026-27. City of East Palo Alto · Jun 23, 2026
The city posts a compensation schedule with pay rates for every job title each year; individual staff pay is not listed by name. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is East Palo Alto 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: $30.9M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: The city's reserve policy targets a contingency reserve of 30% of adopted general fund spending, including recurring transfers, held in unassigned fund balance. On June 30, 2025, unassigned fund balance equaled 99% of that year's general fund spending. City of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 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$17M · 42%
- Sales tax$5.8M · 14%
- Charges for services$2.2M · 5%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy tax)$2.2M · 5%
- Utility users tax$2.2M · 5%
- Interest and rents (use of money and property)$1.9M · 5%
- Drawn from general fund balance (planned)$5.1M · 13%
- Other (permits, business license tax, fines, grants, miscellaneous)$4M · 10%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$17.6M · 44%
- Public Works$6.8M · 17%
- City Manager's office$5.7M · 14%
- Community development$3.5M · 9%
- Finance$1.9M · 5%
- City Attorney$1.6M · 4%
- Transfers out to other funds$989,268 · 2%
- Other (council, clerk, technology, insurance, non-departmental, minus overhead charged to other funds)$2.3M · 6%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Nearly all of the bill is the 1% base levy. Voter-approved school and college bonds and the open space district add about 0.12%. The city has no voter-approved tax rate of its own on the bill.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of East Palo Alto
- 1% base levy (collected by San Mateo County and shared by the county, schools, the city and other agencies)1 · 89%
- Ravenswood City School District bonds0.0615 · 5%
- Sequoia Union High School District bonds0.0388 · 3%
- San Mateo County Community College District bonds0.0178 · 2%
- Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District0.0013 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.1194
FY2024-25 rates for a home in East Palo Alto (San Mateo County tax rate area 021-000). City of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 2025
See what a East Palo Alto home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in East Palo Alto is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityEast Palo Alto Police DepartmentCity of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 2025
- Fire and emergency medical serviceSeparate districtMenlo Park Fire Protection DistrictA separate agency that also serves Atherton and Menlo ParkSan Mateo LAFCo · Oct 10, 2026
- Water (city-owned system)ContractorVeolia Water North America, under a lease of the city's water systemThe operator bills customers and runs the systemCity of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 2025
- Trash and recyclingContractorRecology of San Mateo CountyCity of East Palo Alto · Jun 23, 2026
- Streets, storm drains and streetlightsThe cityCity of East Palo Alto Public WorksCity of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of East Palo AltoThe city describes its parks and recreation programs as limitedCity of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 2025
- Planning, building and rent stabilizationThe cityCity of East Palo AltoCity of East Palo Alto · Dec 26, 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 | Lemon GroveCA | East Palo AltoCA | Suisun CityCA | Laguna HillsCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 28,233 | 29,462 | 29,720 | 30,275 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $215,000 | $317,212 | $268,955 | $290,000 |
| Council member pay | $9,636 | Not confirmed | Not current (2021) | $7,484 |
| General fund per resident | $785 | $1,338 | $1,094 | $1,139 |
| Debt per resident | $16 | $19 | $232 | $3 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $408 | $562 | $846 | $201 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 2.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
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). Lemon Grove and East Palo Alto and Laguna Hills pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What East Palo Alto publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe FY2026-27 adopted budget book is posted on the city website. City of East Palo Alto · Jun 23, 2026
- Partly: City manager's contract findable online City of East Palo Alto · Jan 17, 2023
- No: Council votes recorded member by member onlineThe posted minutes list agenda items only. We found no recorded votes by member in them. City of East Palo Alto · Sep 1, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentThe budget shows the council's combined salaries and benefits, but we found no document stating pay per member. City of East Palo Alto · Jun 23, 2026
- Yes: Employee pay publishedThe council adopts a compensation schedule each year with pay steps for every job title, posted on the city website. City of East Palo Alto · Jun 16, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The general fund took in $8.2 million more than it spent in FY2024-25, partly because planned services were not completed. Which of those services are funded again in FY2026-27?
- The city's net pension liability was $16.5 million in the FY2024-25 audit. How much will the $3 million in extra CalPERS payments approved in February 2026 save over time?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about East Palo Alto 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.