How Rosemead is run
Who runs Rosemead, 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 Rosemead's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Rosemead
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
- No medical, dental, life insurance, deferred pay or paid leave, as a CalPERS retired annuitant
- Agreement ends no later than June 30, 2027
- At-will: the city can end it with five working days' written notice, with no severance
- Reimbursement of reasonable business expenses
- $500 a month car allowance
- $150 a month technology allowance
- City health, dental and vision plans through a monthly cafeteria benefit
- CalPERS retirement enrollment
- $100,000 life and accidental death insurance
Rosemead city staff
67 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. Budgeted full-time positions, the same as the year before. City of Rosemead · Jun 9, 2026
The city posts its salary resolutions and a full-time salary schedule with pay ranges for every job. Police and fire are county services, so deputies and firefighters are not city staff. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Rosemead 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: $23.8M (2025-06-30). City of Rosemead · 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
- Property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees$9.4M · 28%
- Sales and use tax$7.2M · 21%
- Permits, licenses and fees$4.1M · 12%
- Property tax$3.5M · 10%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy)$2.4M · 7%
- Franchise fees (utilities, trash hauler, cable)$2M · 6%
- Interest earnings$1.2M · 4%
- Other$4.1M · 12%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Public safety (mostly the Sheriff's contract)$14.5M · 42%
- Parks and recreation$5.2M · 15%
- Public works$4.4M · 13%
- Community development$3.3M · 10%
- Administration$2.2M · 6%
- City clerk$1.5M · 4%
- Finance$1.2M · 4%
- Other (council, commissions, city attorney, general services)$2.3M · 7%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar, about 8 cents goes to the city, its share of the 1% base levy. The city has no voter-approved tax rate of its own. Homes in the Garvey School District area pay that district's bond rate instead, and the small Metropolitan Water District rate is not shown.
8¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Rosemead
- Other agencies' share of the 1% base levy (county, schools, special districts)0.9072 · 78%
- City of Rosemead (share of the 1% base levy)0.0928 · 8%
- Rosemead School District (bonds)0.0739 · 6%
- El Monte Union High School District (bonds)0.0622 · 5%
- Pasadena Area Community College District (bonds)0.0243 · 2%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.1604
FY2024-25 rates for a home in the Rosemead School District area (Los Angeles County). City of Rosemead · Dec 19, 2025
See what a Rosemead house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Rosemead is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceContractorLos Angeles County Sheriff's Department (contract)City of Rosemead
- Fire protectionSeparate districtLos Angeles County Fire Protection DistrictCity of Rosemead
- LibrarySeparate districtLos Angeles County LibraryFunded by a share of the 1% property tax levyCity of Rosemead
- Trash and recyclingContractorRepublic Services (city franchise)City of Rosemead
- City streetsThe cityCity of Rosemead Public WorksSome street maintenance is contracted to private firmsCity of Rosemead
- Street sweepingContractorAthens Services (contract)City of Rosemead
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 | GlendoraCA | RosemeadCA | Cathedral CityCA | NovatoCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 51,232 | 51,295 | 51,458 | 51,638 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $323,574 | $287,004 | $280,000 | $316,762 |
| Council member pay | $19,200 | $19,200 | $17,964 | $4,800 |
| General fund per resident | $893 | $675 | $1,517 | $1,212 |
| Debt per resident | $1,187 | $0 | $1,370 | $349 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $243 | $204 | $255 | $1,283 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 5.2 | 1.3 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
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). Glendora and Rosemead and Novato pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Rosemead 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 Rosemead
- Yes: City manager's contract findable onlineThe interim city manager's agreement is attached to the July 14, 2026 council staff report in the city's Granicus agenda system. City of Rosemead · Jul 14, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member by name under ayes and noes, e.g. the 5-0 consent calendar vote on Sept. 8, 2026. City of Rosemead
- Partly: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Rosemead
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document City of Rosemead
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Rosemead
Questions to ask your council
- The city manager retired June 30, 2026, and the interim city manager can work at most 960 hours this fiscal year. When does the council expect to hire a permanent manager?
- Public safety, mostly the Sheriff's contract, takes $14.5 million of the $34.6 million general fund budget. How does the council review what the contract delivers?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Budget work begins in February, when departments get instructions; the city manager reviews department requests in April; the proposed budget and council workshops come in May and June; and the council adopts the budget by resolution in June. The FY2026-27 budget resolutions were on the June 9, 2026 council agenda. See who is running for council
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