How Ontario is run
Who runs Ontario, 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 Ontario's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Ontario
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
- City pays 8% of base salary into a 401(a) retirement plan
- Up to $2,500 a year for medical, dental or vision costs the city plans do not cover
- City-paid life insurance: $106,000 basic and $109,000 accidental death
Ontario city staff
1,517 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 428, Fire 265. FY2026-27. Authorized full-time positions, unchanged from FY2025-26. City of Ontario · Jun 23, 2026
The city posts monthly pay ranges for every job title. We did not find a city list of individual pay, and we did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Ontario 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 calls the FY2026-27 budget operationally balanced, with a stabilization reserve projected at $84.7M, 20% of general fund spending, on June 30, 2027. It says it will keep working on budget cuts and restructuring as needed to reach a structurally balanced budget, and it scaled back retiree health (OPEB) funding by $6.2M as a one-time balancing step. City of Ontario · Jun 23, 2026
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $0 (2025-06-30). That means every dollar the general fund has saved is set aside in a named reserve or category, not that it has no savings. City of Ontario · Dec 19, 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$216M · 45%
- Property tax$119M · 25%
- Charges for services$61.8M · 13%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy)$18.5M · 4%
- Intergovernmental$11.7M · 2%
- Business license tax$11.6M · 2%
- Other taxes (franchise, parking, property transfer)$11.5M · 2%
- Other (permits, fines, interest, miscellaneous, transfers in)$30.9M · 6%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$156M · 32%
- Fire$108M · 22%
- Transfers to other funds (capital projects, debt service)$63.9M · 13%
- Community life and culture (library, museum, recreation, housing)$37.3M · 8%
- Public works$35.2M · 7%
- Community development$26.4M · 5%
- Economic development$24.5M · 5%
- Other (city manager and council offices, finance, human resources)$30.4M · 6%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a central Ontario homeowner pays, about 15 cents goes to the city. Homes in the Chino Unified or Mountain View school districts pay different school bond rates.
15¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Ontario
- Other agencies' share of the 1% base levy (county, schools, special districts)0.8319 · 76%
- City of Ontario (share of the 1% base levy)0.1681 · 15%
- Ontario-Montclair School District bonds0.0424 · 4%
- Chaffey Joint Union High School District bonds0.0318 · 3%
- Chaffey Community College bonds0.01 · <1%
- Metropolitan Water District0.007 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.0912
FY2024-25 rates for a home in central Ontario (Ontario-Montclair and Chaffey school districts). City of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
See what a Ontario house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Ontario is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityOntario Police DepartmentCity of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
- FireThe cityOntario Fire DepartmentCity of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
- EMS / ambulanceThe cityOntario Fire DepartmentThe FY2026-27 budget adds two fire department ambulances for advanced life support transport, with San Bernardino County and CONFIRE.City of Ontario · Jun 23, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity of OntarioCity of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
- SewerThe cityCity of OntarioCity of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of OntarioCity of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
- City streetsThe cityCity of OntarioCity of Ontario · Dec 19, 2025
- LibraryThe cityOntario City LibraryCity of Ontario · Jun 23, 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 RosaCA | OntarioCA | Elk GroveCA | Huntington BeachCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 179,798 | 187,863 | 188,319 | 191,498 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $341,428 | Not confirmed | $332,237 | $311,750 |
| Council member pay | Not current (2022) | $30,600 | $30,600 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,286 | $2,563 | $571 | $1,714 |
| Debt per resident | $1,367 | $5,037 | $180 | $1,805 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $2,437 | $781 | $120 | $830 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 7.0 | 8.1 | 2.5 | 5.2 |
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 Ontario publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted online City of Ontario
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no city manager contract in council agendas since 2020 or on the city website. The city posts his pay range and executive benefits profile. City of Ontario
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe city's Granicus portal posts council agendas, minutes and meeting video. City of Ontario
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document City of Ontario
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Ontario
Questions to ask your council
- Sales tax is budgeted at $216.3 million in FY2026-27, close to half of the $481.5 million general fund. How would the city respond if sales tax fell?
- The general fund sends $63.9 million to other funds in FY2026-27, much of it for capital projects and debt service. How much of that pays for the new lease revenue bonds?
- The budget calls itself operationally balanced but not yet structurally balanced, and it cut retiree health funding by $6.2 million as a one-time step. What changes are planned to close that gap?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Budget work begins in February, the city manager proposes a budget in June, and the council must adopt it before July 1. The FY2026-27 budget was adopted at a special meeting on June 23, 2026. See who is running for council
Help decide what comes next
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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?
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