How Perris is run
Who runs Perris, 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 Perris's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Perris
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 as severance if the council ends her employment without cause
- City car for unlimited use, including commuting
- City-paid term life insurance equal to two years' salary
- City pays her share of Social Security, CalPERS and Medicare contributions
- City matches her deferred compensation contributions up to the legal limit
- Vacation accrues at 20 hours a month
Perris city staff
220 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. City of Perris · Jun 10, 2025
The city posts pay range schedules for management and non-management jobs, including the city manager's salary. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Perris 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 against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $32M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Commit an amount equal to 35% of projected general fund revenues for emergencies and economic uncertainty. That reserve is held as committed fund balance ($27.3 million at June 30, 2025), separate from the unassigned balance. City of Perris · Feb 18, 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
- Sales taxes$30.7M · 34%
- Other taxes (mainly property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees, and cannabis tax)$20M · 22%
- Property taxes$15.8M · 18%
- Licenses, permits and fees$8.3M · 9%
- Transfers in (mostly from community facilities district and financing authority funds)$5.8M · 6%
- Franchise fees$4.7M · 5%
- Interest and rents$3.2M · 4%
- Other (fines, state aid, miscellaneous)$1.4M · 2%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police (Riverside County Sheriff contract)$25.3M · 28%
- Engineering, planning, building, code enforcement and animal services$15.7M · 17%
- Administration (council, manager, HR, insurance, IT, finance, attorney, clerk)$15.2M · 17%
- Parks, recreation and community services$12.3M · 14%
- Fire, EMS and emergency operations (Riverside County Fire contract)$11.3M · 13%
- Public works (streets, facilities, fleet, stormwater)$10.1M · 11%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Perris is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe countyRiverside County Sheriff's Department (contract)City of Perris · Jun 10, 2025
- FireThe countyRiverside County Fire Department (contract)Two fire stations in the cityCity of Perris
- EMS / medical emergenciesThe countyRiverside County Fire Department (contract)City of Perris
- Water and sewerSeparate districtEastern Municipal Water DistrictCity of Perris
- Trash and recyclingContractorCR&R, Inc. (city-contracted hauler)City of Perris
- City streetsThe cityCity of Perris Public WorksCity of Perris · Jun 10, 2025
- Animal controlThe cityCity of Perris Animal ControlRiverside County serves unincorporated areas with Perris addressesCity of Perris
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 | AlamedaCA | PerrisCA | Redwood CityCA | MilpitasCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 80,023 | 81,027 | 81,809 | 82,107 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $383,111 | $332,497 | $390,000 | $350,000 |
| Council member pay | Not current (2023) | $19,478 | $9,000 | $10,852 |
| General fund per resident | $1,990 | $1,109 | $2,519 | $1,852 |
| Debt per resident | $716 | $1,896 | $1,110 | $857 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $3,891 | $61 | $3,368 | $3,071 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 6.4 | 2.7 | 7.8 | 5.5 |
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). Perris pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Perris 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 onlineThe employment agreement and its 2023 and 2024 amendments are posted under Human Resources, Employment Contracts. City of Perris
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes in the posted agenda packets list each member's yes or no vote on every motion. City of Perris
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe meetings page posts agendas, minutes and video from 2007 on; meetings also stream on YouTube and Facebook. City of Perris
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentOrdinance 1444 sets council pay at $1,623.16 a month; the municipal code adds 50% for the mayor. City of Perris
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Perris
Questions to ask your council
- General fund balance fell $10.4 million in FY2024-25, and the council declared a fiscal emergency in December 2025. What changes has the city made to the FY2026-27 budget since then?
- The budget expected the city to lose a major share of one e-commerce seller's sales tax. How does actual sales tax compare with the $30.7 million budgeted for FY2026-27?
- Riverside County police ($25.3 million) and fire ($11.3 million) contracts are the largest parts of the $89.8 million FY2026-27 general fund budget. How will the city pay for future contract increases?
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $32.0 million at June 30, 2025. What level does the council want to keep, beyond the 35% committed reserve?
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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