How Livermore is run
Who runs Livermore, 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 Livermore's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Livermore
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
- 12 months' salary and benefits as severance if fired without cause
- Car allowance of $550 a month
- City pays $903.85 per pay period into deferred compensation (since Nov. 17, 2025)
- City puts 4% of base pay into a retiree health savings account
- Same benefits as city department heads, and may cash out unused vacation each year
Livermore city staff
511 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 153. FY2026-27. City of Livermore · Jun 9, 2025
The city posts its full salary plan, with pay ranges for every job class and the city manager's and city attorney's salaries, in council agenda packets. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Livermore 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: $26.6M (2025-06-30). City of Livermore · Dec 31, 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 taxes$66.8M · 42%
- Sales and use taxes$38.9M · 25%
- Other taxes (hotel, property transfer, construction and others)$11.2M · 7%
- Business license taxes$10.7M · 7%
- Interest and rents$9.8M · 6%
- Licenses and permits$7.3M · 5%
- Charges for services$6.2M · 4%
- Other (franchise fees, state and county money, fines, misc., transfers in)$7.9M · 5%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$55.4M · 35%
- Fire (city's share of the joint Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department)$30.2M · 19%
- Community development (planning, building, engineering, housing)$21.3M · 13%
- Public works$11.1M · 7%
- Transfers out (debt payments, stormwater and others)$9.3M · 6%
- Library$8.2M · 5%
- Administrative services (finance, human resources)$6.7M · 4%
- Other (city manager and clerk, economic development, general services, city attorney, council)$16.1M · 10%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
California caps the base property tax at 1% of assessed value; voter-approved bond rates are added on top. The city's table does not show how the 1% base is split between the city, county and schools. It also lists a 0.0805 Pleasanton Unified School District bond rate that applies only to the parts of Livermore inside that district; it is left out here.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Livermore
- Base levy (Prop. 13 1% cap), split among the county, city, schools and other agencies1 · 88%
- Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (voter-approved bonds)0.0475 · 4%
- Chabot-Las Positas Community College District (voter-approved bonds)0.0393 · 3%
- Zone 7 Water Agency (flood control and water)0.0243 · 2%
- BART0.0148 · 1%
- Alameda County voter-approved bonds0.0089 · <1%
- East Bay Regional Park District0.0013 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.1361
FY2024-25 rates for a home in Livermore in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (Alameda County). City of Livermore · Dec 31, 2025
See what a Livermore home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Livermore is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityLivermore Police DepartmentCity of Livermore · Dec 31, 2025
- Fire and emergency medical responseAnother agencyLivermore-Pleasanton Fire Department (joint powers authority with Pleasanton)Livermore pays about half of its costs; Pleasanton employs the firefighters.City of Livermore · Dec 31, 2025
- 911 dispatchThe cityLivermore Police Department dispatchersCity of Livermore · Jun 9, 2025
- WaterThe cityLivermore Municipal Water (city) for about a third of the city; California Water Service Company for the restThe city's utility buys its water from Zone 7 Water Agency.City of Livermore · Jun 9, 2025
- Sewer and wastewater treatmentThe cityCity of Livermore Public WorksCity of Livermore · Jun 9, 2025
- LibraryThe cityLivermore Public Library (city)City of Livermore · Dec 31, 2025
- Parks and recreationSeparate districtLivermore Area Recreation and Park DistrictCity of Livermore · Dec 31, 2025
- Streets and streetlightsThe cityCity of Livermore Public WorksCity of Livermore · Jun 9, 2025
- AirportThe cityLivermore Municipal Airport (city-owned)General aviationCity of Livermore · Dec 31, 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 | Santa BarbaraCA | HawthorneCA | LivermoreCA | Rancho CordovaCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 85,083 | 85,515 | 86,118 | 87,312 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $353,577 | $323,400 | $392,895 | $318,000 |
| Council member pay | $66,416 | Not confirmed | $13,482 | $6,000 |
| General fund per resident | $2,609 | $1,368 | $1,843 | $961 |
| Debt per resident | $3,020 | $1,789 | $991 | $133 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $4,638 | $203 | $1,832 | $77 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 13.6 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 1.6 |
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). Livermore and Rancho Cordova pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Livermore publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: City manager's contract findable online City of Livermore
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document City of Livermore · Apr 13, 2026
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Livermore · Jun 22, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Net pension liability was $157.8 million on June 30, 2025, with $6.8 million in a pension trust. The budget expects the shortfall to be paid off in 2043. What would a market downturn do to that date?
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