How Rancho Cordova is run
Who runs Rancho Cordova, 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 Rancho Cordova's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Rancho Cordova
A City Manager hired by the council runs the city day to day and appoints the department heads. The five council members are elected by district and choose a mayor from among themselves each December. Rancho Cordova is a contract city: the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department provides police, and fire and parks come from separate districts.
What they are paid
- Nine months' base salary plus nine months of medical allowance as severance if fired without cause
- Performance incentive of up to 5% of base salary a year, decided by the council
- $500 a month car allowance
- CalPERS retirement and access to the city's 457 deferred compensation plan
- $500,000 of city-provided term life insurance
Rancho Cordova city staff
138 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2024-25. City of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
Each June the council adopts a salary schedule with pay ranges for every city job; it is posted in the council agenda packet. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Rancho Cordova 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
Unassigned general fund balance: $17.3M (2025-06-30). City of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 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 taxes$30.2M · 36%
- Sales tax$20.8M · 25%
- Charges for services$6.7M · 8%
- Transfers in$4.6M · 5%
- Utility user tax$3.9M · 5%
- Building fees$3.7M · 4%
- Other taxes$3.5M · 4%
- Hotel (transient occupancy) tax$3.5M · 4%
- Other (franchise fees, fines, interest, business licenses, state aid, misc.)$7M · 8%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Professional and contract services (mostly the sheriff's police contract)$40.2M · 48%
- City staff pay and benefits$18.4M · 22%
- Debt service and revenue neutrality payment to Sacramento County$11.2M · 13%
- Transfers to other funds (facilities and IT)$10M · 12%
- Operations (supplies, repairs, fees)$4.2M · 5%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Rancho Cordova is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceContractorSacramento County Sheriff's Department (Rancho Cordova Police)The city's largest contract, about $28.78M in FY2025-26 (preliminary).City of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
- FireSeparate districtSacramento Metropolitan Fire DistrictCity of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
- Parks and recreationSeparate districtCordova Recreation and Park DistrictCity of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
- SewerSeparate districtSacramento Area Sewer District (SacSewer)City of Rancho Cordova
- Street sweepingContractorPrivate companies under city contractCity of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
- Public works (streets)The cityCity of Rancho Cordova Public WorksCity of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
- Animal servicesThe cityCity of Rancho CordovaCity of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 2025
- Code enforcementThe cityCity of Rancho CordovaCity of Rancho Cordova · Dec 16, 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 | LivermoreCA | Rancho CordovaCA | San LeandroCA | Mountain ViewCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 86,118 | 87,312 | 87,431 | 88,533 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $392,895 | $318,000 | $373,118 | $452,777 |
| Council member pay | $13,482 | $6,000 | $22,800 | $16,930 |
| General fund per resident | $1,843 | $961 | $1,819 | $2,343 |
| Debt per resident | $991 | $133 | $736 | $1,077 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,832 | $77 | $2,644 | $2,676 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 5.9 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 8.1 |
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). Livermore and Rancho Cordova pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Rancho Cordova publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe adopted FY2025-27 operating and capital budgets are linked from the finance document library. City of Rancho Cordova
- Yes: City manager's contract findable onlineThe 2022 employment agreement and the January 2026 raise are in council agenda packets on the city's CivicClerk portal. City of Rancho Cordova · Dec 19, 2022
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Rancho Cordova
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document City of Rancho Cordova · Jun 2, 2025
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Rancho Cordova · Jun 2, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- The FY2026-27 budget sets aside $11.2M for debt service and the revenue neutrality payment to Sacramento County, and the property tax sharing runs through FY2027-28. How will the general fund change after it ends?
- Contract services, mostly the sheriff's police contract, are $40.2M of the $83.9M FY2026-27 general fund budget. How does the council measure what the city gets for that contract?
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