How Galt is run
Who runs Galt, 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 Galt's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Galt
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
Galt city staff
200 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. City of Galt · Jun 16, 2026
The budget lists positions by department. We found no city list of pay by employee. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Galt 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
Unassigned general fund balance: $21.2M (2025-06-30). City of Galt · Dec 22, 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
- Taxes$14.4M · 45%
- Refunds and reimbursements from other city funds$6.2M · 20%
- Transfers in$5.4M · 17%
- Charges for services$2.5M · 8%
- Licenses and permits$1.4M · 4%
- Interest and use of money$875,000 · 3%
- Intergovernmental$702,671 · 2%
- Other (fines and miscellaneous)$315,200 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$13.5M · 41%
- Public works$5.4M · 16%
- Administration (city manager, economic development, human resources, IT)$3.9M · 12%
- Community development$3.4M · 10%
- Non-departmental (includes $750,000 of transfers out)$3.2M · 10%
- Finance$2.3M · 7%
- Elected officials (council, attorney, clerk, treasurer)$1.3M · 4%
- Other (parks and recreation)$30,806 · 0%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Proposition 13 sets the base rate at 1% of assessed value, shared by all local agencies where the property sits. Voter-approved school and college bonds add 0.1225%. Not every overlapping rate applies to every property in the city.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Galt
- 1% base levy (shared by the county, city, schools and special districts)1 · 89%
- Galt Joint Union High School District bonds0.0665 · 6%
- Galt Joint Union Elementary School District bonds0.0438 · 4%
- San Joaquin Delta College bonds0.0122 · 1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.1225
FY2024-25 rates for a home in Galt (Sacramento County). City of Galt · Dec 22, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Galt is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityCity of Galt Police DepartmentCity of Galt · Dec 22, 2025
- 911 dispatchThe cityCity of Galt Police Department communications centerCity of Galt · Jun 16, 2026
- Fire protectionSeparate districtCosumnes Fire Department (Cosumnes Community Services District)Formed when the Galt Fire Protection District merged with the Elk Grove CSD's fire services in 2006.Cosumnes Community Services District
- WaterThe cityCity of Galt Public WorksCity of Galt · Jun 18, 2024
- Storm drainsThe cityCity of Galt Public WorksCity of Galt · Jun 18, 2024
- StreetsThe cityCity of Galt Public WorksCity of Galt · Jun 18, 2024
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of Galt Parks and RecreationThe city also runs the Galt Market.City of Galt · Jun 18, 2024
- Planning and buildingThe cityCity of Galt Community DevelopmentCity of Galt · Dec 22, 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 | SoledadCA | GaltCA | Twentynine PalmsCA | SangerCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 27,065 | 27,133 | 27,166 | 27,403 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $254,383 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $200,000 |
| Council member pay | $11,400 | Not confirmed | $5,580 | Not current (2017) |
| General fund per resident | $605 | $1,222 | $580 | $958 |
| Debt per resident | $883 | $817 | $41 | $1,838 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $274 | $1,120 | $59 | $322 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 7.4 | — | 5.7 |
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). Soledad and Galt and Twentynine Palms pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Galt publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted onlineIn August 2026 the Finance budget page linked the FY2026-27 budget, labeled proposed, plus the adopted FY2024-26 biennial budget and FY2025-26 mid-term budget. City of Galt · Aug 14, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no employment agreement for City Manager Chris Erias in the budget, audit, agendas and minutes we could read. City of Galt · Feb 17, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no document stating council members' pay. The budget shows only total City Council payroll. City of Galt · Jun 18, 2024
Questions to ask your council
- The FY2026-27 general fund budget spends $33,156,579 against about $31.9 million of revenue, using fund balance for one-time costs. What does the council expect the general fund balance to be at the end of the year?
- Police is $13,518,857 of the $33,156,579 general fund budget, and cost increases from new labor agreements are not in the forecast. How will the city pay for raises from the contracts it negotiates this year?
- The general fund had $21,207,003 unassigned on June 30, 2025. How much of that counts toward the 25% Economic Stability Reserve, and what is the rest for?
- The city reported a $30,385,739 net pension liability in its FY2024-25 audit. How much will it pay toward that liability in FY2026-27?
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