How Menifee is run
Who runs Menifee, 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 Menifee's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Menifee
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
- If removed without cause, up to six months of paid leave with full pay and benefits
- $500 a month vehicle allowance
- City puts 7% of his base salary into a 457 defined contribution plan
- $350,000 life insurance policy
- Contract runs to Dec. 31, 2029
Menifee city staff
337 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 122. FY2026-27. Total budgeted positions in the listing adopted June 3, 2026, up from 336.5 (306 full-time, 30.5 part-time) in the original budget. City of Menifee · Jun 3, 2026
The council adopts a salary schedule each year with pay ranges for every job title. We did not pull pay bands. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Menifee 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 budget's five-year forecast shows general fund and Measure DD revenue slightly below spending in the two budget years ($103.7M vs $104.0M in FY2026-27) and slightly above it from FY2027-28 through FY2029-30 ($115.0M vs $113.8M in the last year). In the June 2026 mid-cycle revision the council cut the FY2026-27 Measure DD revenue estimate by $1.7M and added $1.0M of general fund spending. City of Menifee · Jun 18, 2025
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $45.8M (2025-06-30). City of Menifee · Dec 18, 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 tax$25.9M · 25%
- Measure DD one-cent sales tax (Quality of Life)$21.3M · 21%
- Sales tax (not counting Measure DD)$14M · 13%
- Vehicle license fee (VLF)$13.4M · 13%
- Development fees$12.9M · 12%
- Franchise fees$6.2M · 6%
- Interest$3M · 3%
- Other (pass-through revenue, misc., property transfer tax, charges for services, hotel tax, fines, business license, transfers in)$6.9M · 7%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$37.6M · 36%
- Fire (Riverside County contract)$20.3M · 19%
- Public works$9M · 9%
- Community development (planning, building, code enforcement)$9M · 9%
- Community services (parks and recreation)$6M · 6%
- Human resources$5.9M · 6%
- Finance$4.4M · 4%
- Other (general services, city manager's office, economic development, city attorney, communications, city clerk, council, capital projects)$11.9M · 11%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Every property pays the 1% base levy; the city gets about 12.6 cents of each base-levy dollar. The other rates are added on top and are summed across all of the city's tax rate areas, so not every rate applies to every property.
11¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Menifee
- Basic 1% levy: City of Menifee share0.12643 · 11%
- Basic 1% levy: Riverside County, schools and other local agencies0.87357 · 75%
- Perris Union High School District bonds0.0685 · 6%
- Menifee Union School District bonds0.0508 · 4%
- Eastern Municipal Water District improvement district0.0375 · 3%
- Metropolitan Water District0.007 · <1%
- Mt. San Jacinto Community College District0.00268 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.16648
FY2024-25 rates across the city of Menifee's tax rate areas (Riverside County). City of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
See what a Menifee house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Menifee is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityMenifee Police Department122 full-time equivalent staff at June 30, 2025.City of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- Fire and EMSContractorRiverside County Fire Department (CAL FIRE), under contractCity of Menifee · Jun 18, 2025
- Water and sewerSeparate districtEastern Municipal Water DistrictCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- ElectricityPrivate companySouthern California EdisonCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- LibraryThe countyRiverside County Library SystemCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of Menifee Community ServicesCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- Parks (east side of the city)Separate districtValley-Wide Recreation and Park District24 parks.City of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity of Menifee Public Works and EngineeringCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- Animal controlContractorAnimal Friends of the Valley, under contractCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 2025
- SchoolsSeparate districtMenifee Union School District, Romoland School District and Perris Union High School DistrictCity of Menifee · Jun 18, 2025
- Public transitAnother agencyRiverside Transit AgencyCity of Menifee · Dec 18, 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 | CarlsbadCA | MenifeeCA | AntiochCA | Thousand OaksCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 115,867 | 117,847 | 118,440 | 121,286 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $320,103 | $352,015 | Not confirmed | $362,985 |
| Council member pay | $30,151 | $22,800 | $22,800 | Not current (2008) |
| General fund per resident | $2,152 | $882 | $882 | $1,048 |
| Debt per resident | $109 | $160 | $555 | $47 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,765 | $-22 | $1,282 | $512 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 8.5 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.0 |
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). Menifee and Thousand Oaks pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Menifee publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe Financial Reports page links the adopted FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 budget book and the revised FY2026-27 budget. City of Menifee
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member online City of Menifee · Jun 3, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Menifee
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe adopted budget's position listing gives each council member's yearly pay ($22,800) and the mayor's ($24,000). City of Menifee · Jun 18, 2025
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Menifee · Jun 3, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Police make up $37.6 million of the $104.0 million FY2026-27 general fund and Measure DD budget, and dispatch is bought from Murrieta. What would a city dispatch center cost?
- The June 2026 revision cut the FY2026-27 Measure DD sales tax estimate by $1.7 million. Which services depend most on that tax?
- Fire service, bought from Riverside County, is budgeted at $20.3 million for FY2026-27. How will that cost change as the city grows?
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