How Irvine is run
Who runs Irvine, 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 Irvine's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Irvine
A City Manager hired by the council runs the city day to day and appoints the executive team. The seven-member council, including a mayor elected citywide, passes ordinances, adopts the two-year budget and hires the City Manager, City Clerk, City Treasurer and City Attorney. Voters approved six council districts in 2024, and district seats are being phased in.
What they are paid
- Term runs from Aug. 10, 2026 to Aug. 31, 2027
- If fired without cause: base pay and benefits for the months left in the term
- An extra $1,340 a month toward the cost of life insurance
- Same benefits as city management employees, including CalPERS pension, health insurance, vehicle allowance and deferred compensation
- Management incentive pay, professional advancement pay and longevity pay, as given to the two previous City Managers
- The city pays for ICMA, League of California Cities and California City Managers Association conferences
- City-paid insurance premiums in 2025 ranged from $0 to $25,686.72 per member
Irvine city staff
1,113 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public safety (police) 379, Public works and sustainability 208. FY2026-27. Authorized full-time positions in a June 2026 snapshot: 1,062 filled and 51 vacant. Part-time staff are not counted. City of Irvine · Jun 23, 2026
The city posts every employee's 2025 pay by job title, with overtime, other pay, insurance and pension costs, and a separate table for the council and executives. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Irvine 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: $3M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep a contingency reserve of at least 20% of the general fund's adopted spending, including a 5% ready reserve, for downturns and disasters. The city holds it as committed fund balance, not unassigned: $66.2M, or 25% of the FY2024-25 general fund budget, on June 30, 2025. The city meets this target. City of Irvine · Feb 26, 2026
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$117M · 37%
- Sales tax$99.3M · 32%
- Franchise fees$20.5M · 7%
- Hotel tax$20.3M · 7%
- Program and service fees$16.5M · 5%
- Transfers in$10.3M · 3%
- Utility users tax$8.8M · 3%
- Other (other agencies, fees, permits, fines, transfer tax, misc.)$19.6M · 6%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Public safety$136M · 44%
- Public works and sustainability$60.6M · 19%
- Community and library services$43.4M · 14%
- Administration (council, manager, clerk, administrative services, HR, communications)$36.6M · 12%
- Community development$15.4M · 5%
- Transfers out (mostly landscape, lighting and park maintenance)$12M · 4%
- Non-departmental$8.3M · 3%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Proposition 13 sets the base levy at 1% of assessed value, shared by all agencies serving a property. The city's share of the base levy is 0.0318 of the 1% rate. Voter-approved water and school debt adds to it. Not all overlapping rates apply to all property owners; areas in other school districts pay their rates instead.
3¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Irvine
- Rest of the 1% base levy (county, schools and other agencies)0.9682 · 79%
- Irvine Ranch Water District0.1965 · 16%
- Irvine Unified School District bonds0.02687 · 2%
- City of Irvine share of the 1% base levy0.0318 · 3%
- Metropolitan Water District0.007 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.23037
FY2024-25 rates for property in the Irvine Unified School District and Irvine Ranch Water District areas, as listed in the city's audited report. City of Irvine · Feb 26, 2026
See what a Irvine house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Irvine is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- Fire and EMSAnother agencyOrange County Fire Authority (joint powers authority), under contract with the cityCity of Irvine · Feb 26, 2026
- WaterSeparate districtIrvine Ranch Water DistrictIrvine Ranch Water District
- SewerSeparate districtIrvine Ranch Water DistrictIrvine Ranch Water District
- SchoolsSeparate districtIrvine Unified and Tustin Unified school districtsThe FY2026-27 budget includes $13M of city support for the school districts.City of Irvine · Jun 23, 2026
- LibraryThe cityIrvine Public Library (city)Took over from the County of Orange; opened Aug. 4, 2025.City of Irvine · Feb 26, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of Irvine Community & Library ServicesCity of Irvine · Feb 26, 2026
- Public transitAnother agencyOrange County Transportation Authority, plus city-run TRIPS and IrvineCONNECTCity of Irvine · Feb 26, 2026
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 | Santa AnaCA | IrvineCA | RiversideCA | StocktonCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 312,808 | 317,744 | 321,884 | 322,436 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $340,200 | $434,242 | $405,696 | $390,277 |
| Council member pay | $12,000 | $10,560 | $45,732 | $30,833 |
| General fund per resident | $1,391 | $982 | $1,191 | $1,068 |
| Debt per resident | $1,677 | $1,048 | $5,627 | $1,377 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,118 | $533 | $1,209 | $2,061 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 4.6 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 5.6 |
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). Santa Ana and Irvine pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Irvine publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe FY2025-27 budget is posted as an online flipbook, and the FY2026-27 mid-cycle budget and resolution are in the June 23, 2026 council packet. City of Irvine · Jun 23, 2026
- Yes: City manager's contract findable onlineThe July 29, 2026 employment agreement with Sean Joyce is linked from his biography page on the city website. City of Irvine · Jul 29, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's vote, e.g. the 6-1 vote on Great Park paid parking on June 23, 2026. City of Irvine · Jun 23, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe city's Granicus portal posts agendas, minutes and video for council meetings. City of Irvine
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe city's 2025 compensation report lists each council member's salary, auto allowance, insurance and pension costs. City of Irvine
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Irvine
Questions to ask your council
- Unassigned general fund balance was $3.0 million on June 30, 2025, while the committed contingency reserve held $66.2 million. How much of that reserve was used to balance FY2025-26, and when will it be rebuilt?
- City Manager Sean Joyce's contract runs through Aug. 31, 2027. When will the council decide on a longer-term city manager?
The fiscal year starts July 1, and the city adopts a two-year budget. The council adopted the FY2025-27 budget on June 10, 2025. For the FY2026-27 mid-cycle review, the Finance Commission voted June 1, 2026 and the council adopted the FY2026-27 budget on June 23, 2026. The FY2027-29 budget goes to the council for adoption on June 15, 2027. See who is running for council
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Irvine 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.