How Santa Monica is run
Who runs Santa Monica, 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 Monica's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Santa Monica
A city manager appointed by the council runs the city day to day and appoints department directors. The seven-member council, elected to four-year terms, sets policy and adopts the budget. It also appoints the city attorney and city clerk.
What they are paid
- Nine months' base pay as severance if fired without cause
- $15,000 a year into a 457(b) deferred compensation plan
- May borrow up to $2 million from the city at a fixed 3.5% to buy a home in Santa Monica
- Temporary housing allowance of up to $5,000 a month ($60,000 total), plus up to $5,000 for moving
- CalPERS pension, 2% at 55 formula
- Educational incentive of $230.77 every two weeks; city phone and laptop
- $400 a month vehicle allowance, plus $50 for each special meeting attended
- Medical and other benefits similar to those of city employees (Measure J, 1998)
Santa Monica city staff
2,288 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public Works 553, Police 478, Big Blue Bus 444, Fire 171, Library 84. FY2026-27. 2,175.3 permanent and 112.3 temporary positions; 1,500.9 are in the general fund. The audited report counted 2,124.8 in FY2024-25. City of Santa Monica · Aug 4, 2026
The city runs its own police, fire, bus, water and trash services, so their staff are city employees. Each budget adoption includes a salary resolution with pay rates for new and changed job classes. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Santa Monica 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: $62.1M (2025-06-30). City of Santa Monica · Mar 3, 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
- Other taxes (utility users, business license, parking facility, property transfer and others)$111M · 22%
- Property taxes$93.6M · 18%
- Sales taxes$76.6M · 15%
- Hotel taxes (transient occupancy tax)$72.8M · 14%
- Parking (meters, lots and structures, citations)$54.8M · 11%
- Charges for services$26.2M · 5%
- Investment earnings and rent$19.5M · 4%
- Overhead charged to other city funds$18.6M · 4%
- Other (planning and building fees, permits, grants, fines, interfund services, misc.)$35.9M · 7%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$153M · 29%
- Public Works$77.3M · 15%
- Fire (including ambulance service)$68.9M · 13%
- Non-departmental (citywide costs not assigned to a department)$62M · 12%
- Housing and Human Services$26.2M · 5%
- Transportation (streets and mobility)$19.9M · 4%
- Community Development$19.6M · 4%
- Other (city attorney, city manager, information services, finance, library, recreation and arts, HR, clerk, council), net of $3.7M of transfers$98.5M · 19%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Our sum of the 1% base levy and the voter-approved school and college bond rates the county set for FY2025-26. It leaves out the Metropolitan Water District's small rate, which this county document does not list.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Santa Monica
- 1% base levy (shared by the county, schools, the city and others)The city's general fund gets about 14 cents of each dollar of the county's 1% levy.1 · 84%
- Santa Monica Community College District bonds0.078622 · 7%
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, Santa Monica school facilities district bonds0.069471 · 6%
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District bonds (districtwide)0.048664 · 4%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.196757
FY2025-26 rates for a home in Santa Monica (Los Angeles County). Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors · Sep 2, 2025
See what a Santa Monica home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Santa Monica is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe citySanta Monica Police DepartmentCity of Santa Monica
- FireThe citySanta Monica Fire DepartmentCity of Santa Monica
- Ambulance transportThe citySanta Monica Fire DepartmentCity of Santa Monica
- Water and sewerThe cityCity of Santa Monica (water and wastewater funds)City of Santa Monica
- Trash and recyclingThe cityCity of Santa Monica Resource Recovery and RecyclingCity of Santa Monica
- ElectricityAnother agencyClean Power Alliance (power supply), delivered by a private utilityCity of Santa Monica
- LibraryThe citySanta Monica Public Library (five libraries)City of Santa Monica
- Parks, recreation and beachesThe cityCity of Santa MonicaIncludes 245 acres of beachesCity of Santa Monica
- City streetsThe cityCity of Santa MonicaCity of Santa Monica
- SchoolsSeparate districtSanta Monica-Malibu Unified School DistrictCity of Santa Monica
- Community collegeSeparate districtSanta Monica Community College DistrictCity of Santa Monica
- Airport, pier and cemeteryThe cityCity of Santa MonicaCity of Santa Monica
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 | South GateCA | ComptonCA | Santa MonicaCA | ReddingCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 93,467 | 93,937 | 94,237 | 94,294 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $301,600 | Not confirmed | $410,604 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $22,800 | $7,200 | $18,384 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $802 | $914 | $5,573 | $1,218 |
| Debt per resident | $311 | $1,205 | $3,282 | $2,053 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,099 | $1,726 | $4,467 | $3,777 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 3.3 | — | 24.3 | 10.1 |
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). Compton pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Santa Monica publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe city's budgets and reports page posts the FY2026-27 adopted budget addendum and the FY2025-27 biennial budget. City of Santa Monica
- Yes: City manager's contract findable online City of Santa Monica · May 28, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's vote (ayes, noes, absent) by name, and note recusals. City of Santa Monica · Jun 23, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Santa Monica
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Santa Monica · Jun 23, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- CalPERS reports the city's three pension plans were $421 million short on June 30, 2025. When will the city resume the extra paydowns it suspended in 2023?
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