How Santa Clarita is run
Who runs Santa Clarita, 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 Santa Clarita's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Santa Clarita
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day and appoints department directors. The five-member council sets policy by ordinance and resolution, adopts the budget, and appoints the city manager and city attorney. Council seats are moving from at-large to district elections: two seats in 2024, the rest in 2026.
What they are paid
- Severance of 12 months' salary and health benefits if fired, plus one month per year of service, up to 18 months
- Can be removed only by a 4-of-5 council vote (since 2022)
- City pays the IRS maximum into his deferred compensation plan
- CalPERS pension, paid the same way as for other city employees
- Term life insurance equal to twice his salary
- 30 days of vacation a year plus 15 days of administrative leave
- CalPERS pension contributions: $11,036 budgeted for the council in FY2026-27
- Council travel and training budget: $9,500 (FY2026-27)
Santa Clarita city staff
510 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. Nine positions were added in the FY2026-27 budget, up from 501 in FY2025-26. City of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 2026
The city posts its classification plan and salary schedule with pay ranges for each job title. We did not find a city-published list of each employee's pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Santa Clarita 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 FY2026-27 general fund budget is balanced: $157.7 million in revenue against $157.4 million in spending, with a 20% operating reserve of $27.8 million. City policy calls for a five-year general fund forecast and structural balance for all funds. City of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 2026
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $63.2M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep an operating reserve of at least 20% of general fund operating spending, held in unassigned fund balance, for one-time unexpected needs and local disasters. The city meets this target. City of Santa Clarita · Dec 12, 2025
Bar: unassigned savings of $63.2M. Line: the amount the city's target calls for.
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 (including property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees)$53.8M · 34%
- Sales tax$50.4M · 32%
- Franchise fees (including waste hauling)$12.3M · 8%
- Charges for services$11.6M · 7%
- Overhead charged to other city funds$10.3M · 7%
- Licenses and permits$5.5M · 3%
- Hotel tax$5.2M · 3%
- Interest and rents$4.2M · 3%
- Other (property transfer tax, fines, other agencies, misc., transfers in)$4.4M · 3%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Public safety (Los Angeles County Sheriff contract and fire)$36.5M · 23%
- Transfers to other funds$21.8M · 14%
- Recreation and community services$18.5M · 12%
- Neighborhood services (parks, facilities, environmental services)$17.6M · 11%
- Administrative services (finance, technology, clerk, special districts)$15.9M · 10%
- Community development (planning, building, code enforcement)$15.7M · 10%
- Public works (streets, engineering, traffic)$14.2M · 9%
- Other (council, manager, economic development and arts, human resources, city attorney, contingency)$17.2M · 11%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Our sum of the 1% base levy and the voter-approved high school and college bond rates the county set for FY2025-26. Elementary school district bond rates differ by neighborhood, and the water agency's rate is not in this county document, so both are left out.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Santa Clarita
- 1% base levy (shared by the county, county fire district, schools, the city and others)In the city's largest tax rate area, the city gets about 5.9 cents and the city library about 2.7 cents of each dollar of the 1% levy (FY2024-25).1 · 92%
- William S. Hart Union High School District bonds0.055925 · 5%
- Santa Clarita Community College District bonds0.034488 · 3%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.090413
FY2025-26 rates for a home in Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County). Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors · Sep 2, 2025
See what a Santa Clarita home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Santa Clarita 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 (Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station)City of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 2026
- Trash and recyclingContractorBurrtec Waste IndustriesExclusive provider for homes and apartmentsCity of Santa Clarita (Green Santa Clarita): Residential Waste Services
- WaterSeparate districtSanta Clarita Valley Water Agency (SCV Water)SCV Water
- LibraryThe citySanta Clarita Public Library (city-run, three branches)City of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 2026
- Parks and trailsThe cityCity of Santa Clarita Neighborhood Services, Parks division40 park sites and over 44 miles of trailsCity of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 2026
- City streetsThe cityCity of Santa Clarita Public Works, General ServicesCity of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 2026
- Local transitThe cityCity of Santa Clarita Transit (local routes, commuter express, Dial-A-Ride)City of Santa Clarita · Jun 9, 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 | FontanaCA | ModestoCA | Santa ClaritaCA | FremontCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 219,774 | 220,048 | 232,883 | 233,974 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $383,321 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $423,242 |
| Council member pay | $25,272 | $31,860 | $29,336 | $31,231 |
| General fund per resident | $1,012 | $980 | $676 | $1,236 |
| Debt per resident | $263 | $1,237 | $384 | $364 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $849 | $1,842 | $142 | $1,846 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 6.6 | 2.2 | 4.2 |
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). Santa Clarita pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Santa Clarita 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 2012 agreement and its three amendments are posted on the Human Resources employee contracts page. City of Santa Clarita
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineThe city's online agenda system lists the mover, seconder, ayes, nays and absences for each item, e.g. the 3-1 council pay vote of April 14, 2026. City of Santa Clarita
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineEach council meeting page offers the agenda, agenda packet, minutes and video. City of Santa Clarita
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe salary schedule lists $2,444.69 a month; the April 2026 ordinance sets $2,566.92 from 2027. City of Santa Clarita
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Santa Clarita
Questions to ask your council
- At June 30, 2025 the general fund held $63.2 million unassigned, against a $26.35 million reserve target, plus $188.3 million assigned to public facilities. What are the plans for those sums?
- Public safety, mostly the Sheriff contract, is $36.5 million of the $157.4 million general fund budget for FY2026-27. How is the contract cost expected to change?
- The city's CalPERS plan was 90.1% funded, $33.0 million short, at June 30, 2025. Does the city plan extra payments to close the gap?
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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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