How Moreno Valley is run
Who runs Moreno Valley, 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 Moreno Valley's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Moreno Valley
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
- Six months' salary and benefits as severance if fired without cause
- A 5% raise on each contract anniversary after a satisfactory council review; no cost-of-living raises
- $500 a month car allowance
- Same benefits as the city's other executive managers
- Contract runs to Dec. 28, 2028; he serves at the council's pleasure
- Benefit bank allowance of up to $19,200 a year
- $500 a month car allowance
- CalPERS retirement, with the city paying the employer share
- $100 per Community Services District board meeting, up to six a month
Moreno Valley city staff
462 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. City of Moreno Valley · Aug 28, 2025
The adopted budget lists salary ranges for every city job title, and the city posts executive salaries and contracts on its transparency page. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Moreno Valley 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's long-range projections show both budget years, FY2025-26 and FY2026-27, in balance, but they do not address unfunded liabilities. The budget says slowing revenue is expected to be outpaced by rising costs, mainly the county police and fire contracts, which are expected to grow about $4 million a year. City of Moreno Valley · Aug 28, 2025
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $30.8M (2025-06-30). City of Moreno Valley · Dec 5, 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 (including the Measure U one-cent tax)$60.6M · 28%
- Property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees$37.8M · 18%
- Property tax$36.8M · 17%
- Utility users tax$22M · 10%
- Charges for services$16.3M · 8%
- Franchise fees$9.9M · 5%
- Interest and property use$7.5M · 4%
- Hotel tax$7.1M · 3%
- Other (business gross receipts tax, permits, fines, grants, transfers in)$15.5M · 7%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police (Riverside County Sheriff contract)$97.2M · 46%
- Fire (Riverside County Fire / CAL FIRE contract)$42.1M · 20%
- Public works$19.2M · 9%
- Community development (planning, building, code enforcement, animal services)$18M · 8%
- City manager's office (communications, technology, public safety contracts)$15M · 7%
- Financial and management services$9.9M · 5%
- Other (council, clerk, attorney, economic development, human resources, less a non-departmental credit)$12M · 6%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
In the budget's example, the city gets about 11 cents of each dollar of the 1% base levy, and schools get about 61 cents. The city has no voter-approved rate of its own. Homes in other school or water improvement districts pay different add-on rates.
10¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Moreno Valley
- Schools and colleges (share of the 1% levy)0.607 · 54%
- Water and other districts (share of the 1% levy)0.1474 · 13%
- Riverside County (share of the 1% levy)0.1347 · 12%
- City of Moreno Valley (share of the 1% levy)0.1109 · 10%
- Moreno Valley Unified School District bonds0.09816 · 9%
- Riverside City Community College District bonds0.0123 · 1%
- Metropolitan Water District0.007 · <1%
- Eastern Municipal Water District improvement district0.006 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.12346
Sample tax bill for a Moreno Valley home, from the city's FY2025-27 budget (Riverside County). City of Moreno Valley · Aug 28, 2025
See what a Moreno Valley home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Moreno Valley is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceContractorRiverside County Sheriff's Department, by contract (Moreno Valley Police Department)City of Moreno Valley · Dec 5, 2025
- WaterSeparate districtEastern Municipal Water DistrictA 430-acre area in the western part of the city is served by Box Springs Mutual Water Company.City of Moreno Valley · Mar 31, 2021
- ElectricityThe cityMoreno Valley Utility (city-owned electric utility) for new development; Southern California Edison elsewhereCity of Moreno Valley · Aug 28, 2025
- LibraryThe cityMoreno Valley Public Library (city Parks & Community Services)City of Moreno Valley · Aug 28, 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 | OxnardCA | Moreno ValleyCA | FontanaCA | ModestoCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 198,557 | 211,365 | 219,774 | 220,048 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $351,120 | $344,677 | $383,321 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $20,412 | $21,144 | $25,272 | $31,860 |
| General fund per resident | $1,295 | $1,010 | $1,012 | $980 |
| Debt per resident | $1,594 | $399 | $263 | $1,237 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,555 | $400 | $849 | $1,842 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 6.6 |
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). Moreno Valley pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Moreno Valley publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 adopted budget and a Citizens Guide are posted on the city's budget page, with adopted budgets back to FY2017-18. City of Moreno Valley
- Yes: City manager's contract findable onlineThe city's transparency page posts the city manager's contract and its 2025 amendment, along with other executive contracts. City of Moreno Valley
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Moreno Valley
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe city's salary list states council members' pay of $21,144 a year. We found no document stating the directly elected mayor's pay. City of Moreno Valley · Jun 29, 2026
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Moreno Valley · Aug 28, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- The budget expects Riverside County's police and fire contract costs to grow about $4 million a year. How will the general fund cover that growth after FY2026-27?
- CalPERS reports the city's pension plan was 72.6% funded at June 30, 2025, with $84.4 million unfunded. What is the council's plan to reduce that amount?
- Budgeted sales tax rises to $60.6 million in FY2026-27, helped by the Measure U one-cent sales tax. How will residents see what Measure U pays for?
The fiscal year starts July 1. The city adopts a two-year budget: departments present at council study sessions in March and April, the proposed budget goes to the council in May, and it is adopted at a public hearing before July 1. The current budget covers FY2025-26 and FY2026-27, and the council reviews it each quarter; the third-quarter review was on June 16, 2026. See who is running for council
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Moreno Valley 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.