How Los Angeles is run
Who runs Los Angeles, 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 Los Angeles's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Los Angeles
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
Los Angeles city staff
33,699 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police (sworn and civilian) 13,598, Fire 3,904. FY2026-27. Authorized regular positions in the general city budget. Also funds 3,277 resolution authorities. Excludes the Department of Water and Power, Airports and Harbor. City of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
Of 79,852 people paid by the city in 2025, 15,996 earned over $150,000 and 7,013 over $200,000 in total pay. Los Angeles City Controller · Oct 9, 2026
The City Controller publishes pay for every city employee by name and job title, including the Department of Water and Power, Airports and Harbor. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Los Angeles 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.
The city's own outlook
The City Administrative Officer's four-year outlook projects spending will exceed revenue by $186.9 million in FY2027-28 and by $39.4 million in FY2028-29, with surpluses of $22.0 million and $106.7 million in the two years after. The CAO says the city is not in compliance with its structural balance policy, and that $363 million of the $412 million in general fund revenue growth goes to required employee cost increases. City of Los Angeles · Apr 20, 2026
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $815M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep a Reserve Fund of at least 5% of budgeted General Fund receipts, with at least 2.75% in an Emergency Reserve. The Reserve Fund started FY2025-26 at 4.91%, below the target. The adopted FY2026-27 budget starts the year with $516.9 million available, 6.01% of the General Fund budget. The $814.9 million unassigned balance also includes the Budget Stabilization Fund ($206.2 million on June 30, 2025). City of Los Angeles · Jan 29, 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$2.95B · 34%
- Departmental receipts (fees and reimbursements)$1.85B · 22%
- Business tax$911M · 11%
- Utility users' tax$773M · 9%
- Sales tax$682M · 8%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy)$314M · 4%
- Transfer from Water and Power (power revenue)$220M · 3%
- Documentary transfer tax$203M · 2%
- Other (parking taxes and fines, franchise fees, interest, former CRA property tax, grants, misc.)$696M · 8%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- City departments (police, fire, public works and others)$4.19B · 49%
- Pension contributions (paid through tax and revenue anticipation notes)$1.52B · 18%
- Employee health and other benefits$1B · 12%
- General City Purposes (citywide programs)$415M · 5%
- Recreation and Parks$309M · 4%
- Library$280M · 3%
- Unappropriated balance (set-asides)$196M · 2%
- Lease and bond payments (Capital Finance Administration)$193M · 2%
- Other (liability claims, water and electricity, leasing, capital, other funds)$489M · 6%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Most of a Los Angeles property-tax bill is the 1% base levy. Voter-approved debt adds 0.128% for Los Angeles Unified schools, 0.013% for city bonds and 0.007% for the Metropolitan Water District.
1¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Los Angeles
- 1% base levy1 · 87%
- Los Angeles Unified School District (voter-approved debt)0.128018 · 11%
- City of Los Angeles (voter-approved general obligation debt)0.013312 · 1%
- Metropolitan Water District0.007 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.14833
FY2024-25 rates for a property in Tax Rate Area 4, the most common in the city of Los Angeles (Los Angeles County). City of Los Angeles · Jan 29, 2026
Who provides your services
Not everything in Los Angeles is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityLos Angeles Police DepartmentCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- FireThe cityLos Angeles Fire DepartmentCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- SewerThe cityCity of Los Angeles Public Works (Sanitation)Wastewater collection and treatmentCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity of Los Angeles Department of Water and PowerCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- ElectricityThe cityCity of Los Angeles Department of Water and PowerCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- City streetsThe cityCity of Los Angeles Public Works (Street Services)City of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- LibraryThe cityCity of Los Angeles Library DepartmentCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- ParksThe cityCity of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and ParksCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- AirportsThe cityCity of Los Angeles Department of AirportsCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 2026
- PortThe cityCity of Los Angeles Harbor DepartmentCity of Los Angeles · May 27, 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 | San FranciscoCA | San JoseCA | San DiegoCA | Los AngelesCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 845,658 | 980,434 | 1,419,531 | 3,806,201 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $397,160 | $456,015 | Not confirmed | $461,401 |
| Council member pay | $180,128 | $171,257 | $183,545 | $243,789 |
| General fund per resident | $8,986 | $1,953 | $1,590 | $2,259 |
| Debt per resident | $29,826 | $2,651 | $2,869 | $10,854 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $5,043 | $2,616 | $2,216 | $1,987 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 38.7 | 7.1 | 9.2 | 8.9 |
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).
What Los Angeles publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted online Los Angeles City Controller
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineThe City Clerk's official action records list each member's vote, e.g. the 15-0 vote confirming the City Administrative Officer in 2021. City of Los Angeles
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online Los Angeles City Clerk
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe Controller's payroll data lists each council member's pay, $243,789.26 for most in 2025. We found no budget document stating the salary rate. Los Angeles City Controller
Questions to ask your council
- The City Administrative Officer projects spending will exceed revenue by $186.9 million in FY2027-28. What will the council change to close that gap?
- The Reserve Fund started FY2025-26 at 4.91% of revenue, below the 5% policy, and starts FY2026-27 at 6.01%. How will the council keep it above 5%?
- Moody's and S&P rate the city's general obligation bonds with negative outlooks. What would it take to remove them?
The fiscal year starts July 1. The Charter requires the mayor to submit a proposed budget by April 20 and the council to adopt it by June 1. The mayor then has five working days to approve or veto council changes, and the council five working days to sustain or override them by a two-thirds vote. The council adopted the FY2026-27 budget on May 27, 2026. See who is running for council
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Los Angeles 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.