How Hanford is run
Who runs Hanford, 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 Hanford's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Hanford
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
- Five-year contract through February 2, 2031
- Raises match those given to the city's executive management group (EMEA)
- 10% longevity pay and 5% certificate pay as a CPA, on top of salary
- $500 a month car allowance and $100 a month phone allowance
- Six months' salary as severance if fired without cause more than six months before the contract ends
- CalPERS 3% at 60 pension; he pays the full employee share
Hanford city staff
331 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2025-26. City of Hanford · Jun 3, 2025
The city posts a council-adopted salary schedule with monthly pay ranges for every job title. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Hanford 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: $13.6M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep unrestricted general fund balance at 35% of budgeted spending, with 15% of it for fiscal emergencies. The audit puts the unassigned balance at 21.1% of general fund spending. City of Hanford · Dec 17, 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 and franchise fees$19.8M · 44%
- Property taxes$17M · 38%
- Miscellaneous revenue$1.4M · 3%
- Drawn from reserves (settlement installment)$1.3M · 3%
- Fees$1.1M · 3%
- Grants and aid from other governments$1.1M · 2%
- Other taxes and special assessments$975,550 · 2%
- Other (interest, rents, permits, fines, transfers)$1.9M · 4%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$19.8M · 44%
- Fire$8M · 18%
- Parks and community services$5.8M · 13%
- Non-departmental (incl. debt service)$4M · 9%
- Administration$2.4M · 5%
- Public works$2.3M · 5%
- Other (finance, community development, engineering)$2.4M · 5%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Most of the bill is the 1% general levy, which the county splits among local agencies. The rest is voter-approved school and college bonds. The city has no voter-approved property tax rate of its own.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Hanford
- 1% general levy (shared by Kings County, the city, schools and special districts)1 · 92%
- Hanford Joint Union High School District bonds0.044956 · 4%
- Hanford Elementary School District bonds0.022559 · 2%
- College of the Sequoias bonds (listed as COS/HFD 06-C)0.015 · 1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.082515
FY2024-25 rates for a home in Hanford (Kings County, tax rate area 2-000). City of Hanford · Dec 17, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Hanford is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityHanford Police DepartmentCity of Hanford
- FireThe cityHanford Fire DepartmentCity of Hanford
- Emergency medical responseThe cityHanford Fire DepartmentBasic life support from fire engines; the department does not transport patients.City of Hanford
- 911 dispatchThe cityHanford Police Communications DivisionAlso answers calls for the City of Lemoore.City of Hanford
- SewerThe cityCity of HanfordCity of Hanford
- Trash and recyclingThe cityCity of HanfordCity of Hanford
- StreetsThe cityCity of HanfordCity of Hanford
- Storm drainageThe cityCity of HanfordCity of Hanford
- Animal controlThe cityHanford Police Animal Control Unit; shelter run by Kings CountyCity of Hanford
- LibraryThe countyKings County LibraryKings County Library home page
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 | HanfordCA | La HabraCA | WoodlandCA | La MesaCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 60,837 | 61,269 | 61,324 | 61,707 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $243,684 | $319,065 | Not current (2023) | $313,524 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $6,000 | Not confirmed | $22,800 |
| General fund per resident | $734 | $1,190 | $1,257 | $1,315 |
| Debt per resident | $743 | $1,615 | $2,953 | $438 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $489 | $573 | $2,071 | $1,984 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 5.4 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 4.8 |
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). La Habra pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Hanford 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 budget for FY2025-26 and FY2026-27, adopted June 3, 2025, is posted. The June 2026 mid-cycle changes are in the council packet. City of Hanford · Jun 3, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineCouncil minutes list each motion's result and the members voting aye. City of Hanford · Jun 16, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineCouncil meeting videos are posted in the city's online archive, and minutes are posted on the city's agenda portal. City of Hanford
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no council pay amount in the budget, the salary schedule or the council handbook. The handbook only cites state law. City of Hanford
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Hanford · Jul 21, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $13,596,699 on June 30, 2025, or 21.1% of spending, against a 35% goal. When does the city expect to reach the goal?
- The FY2026-27 budget draws $1,250,000 from general fund reserves for the last settlement installment, out of $44,670,137 of planned spending. What will the city do with that money once the installments end?
- Police take $19,846,025 of the FY2026-27 general fund budget. How will Measure H money change police and fire staffing?
- CalPERS reports $29.8 million of unfunded pension liability on June 30, 2025, on top of $26,176,000 of pension obligation bonds. What is the plan to pay these down?
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