How Seaside is run
Who runs Seaside, 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 Seaside's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Seaside
A City Manager appointed by the council runs the city day to day and appoints other city staff. The five-member council, including the directly elected mayor, sets policy, approves ordinances and contracts, and authorizes spending. The council also appoints the City Attorney.
What they are paid
- $17,500 a year in deferred compensation on top of salary
- $500 a month car allowance
- Up to $12,000 for temporary living, travel and moving costs
- Pay rises from $400 to $1,180 a month once new terms begin after the Nov. 3, 2026 election
- Each member was overpaid $26,000 from June 2025 to June 2026; the council directed the City Manager to hire an independent professional to recommend a repayment method
Seaside city staff
163 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 48, Public Works 39, Fire 28. FY2026-27. City of Seaside · Jun 18, 2026
The city posts a salary schedule with the pay range of every full-time job title. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Seaside 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: $7.8M (2025-06-30). City of Seaside · Jan 28, 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
- Property tax$13M · 24%
- Sales and use tax$10.5M · 19%
- Local transaction (sales) tax$9.8M · 18%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy)$4.9M · 9%
- Utility users tax$4.2M · 8%
- Franchise fees$2.1M · 4%
- Investment income$1.3M · 2%
- Other (business licenses, permits, cannabis tax, fees, reimbursements, fines, grants)$5.6M · 10%
- From savings (fund balance)$3.2M · 6%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$16.3M · 29%
- Fire$11.4M · 21%
- Public works and engineering$8.7M · 16%
- Recreation$5.6M · 10%
- Transfers out (capital projects, streets, other funds)$3.5M · 6%
- General government (council, manager, clerk, attorney, HR, finance)$7M · 13%
- Other (community development, planning, economic development, building and code enforcement)$3.1M · 6%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Almost all of the bill is the 1% base levy, which the county splits among local agencies. The city gets about 18 cents of each base-levy dollar. The city charges no voter-approved debt rate of its own.
17¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Seaside
- Other agencies' shares of the 1% base levy0.822 · 77%
- City of Seaside share of the 1% base levy0.178 · 17%
- Monterey Peninsula Unified School District bonds0.04821 · 5%
- Monterey Peninsula College bonds0.02193 · 2%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.07014
FY2024-25 rates for a home in Seaside (Monterey County). City of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
See what a Seaside house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Seaside is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe citySeaside Police DepartmentCity of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
- FireThe citySeaside Fire DepartmentCity of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
- Water (part of the city)The cityCity of Seaside (Seaside Municipal Water)City of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
- SewerSeparate districtSeaside County Sanitation DistrictMarina Coast Water District and the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency also provide sewer serviceCity of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of SeasideCity of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
- City streetsThe cityCity of SeasideCity of Seaside · Jan 28, 2026
- Trash and recyclingContractorGreenWaste Recovery (city contract)City of Seaside · Jun 4, 2026
- Animal controlThe citySeaside Police DepartmentCity of Seaside · Jun 18, 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 | San PabloCA | Paso RoblesCA | SeasideCA | AtwaterCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 31,468 | 31,525 | 31,681 | 31,806 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $327,180 | $269,000 | $285,000 | $193,747 |
| Council member pay | $17,064 | $13,860 | $4,800 | No salary |
| General fund per resident | $1,919 | $1,793 | $1,720 | $681 |
| Debt per resident | $1,587 | $1,681 | $513 | $1,880 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,875 | $1,611 | $2,019 | $888 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.1 | 3.5 |
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). Atwater pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Seaside 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 Seaside · Jun 18, 2026
- Yes: City manager's contract findable onlineThe Feb. 6, 2025 agenda packet in the city's meeting portal includes Greg McDanel's employment agreement and a staff report summarizing its pay terms. City of Seaside · Feb 6, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's vote, e.g. the 5-0 vote adopting the FY2026-27 budget on June 18, 2026. City of Seaside · Jun 18, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document City of Seaside · Aug 6, 2026
- Yes: Employee pay publishedThe city posts a salary schedule with the pay range of every full-time job title, effective Feb. 5, 2026. City of Seaside · Feb 5, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Council members were overpaid from June 2025 to June 2026, and the council has asked an independent professional to recommend a repayment method. When will the council adopt a repayment plan?
- The city's net pension liability was $64.0 million in its FY2024-25 audit, and it holds $4.4 million in a pension trust. Does the council plan to add to the trust?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Finance released the proposed FY2026-27 budget on May 15, 2026, the council held budget study sessions May 26 and 27, and adopted the budget 5-0 on June 18, 2026. Quarterly fiscal updates to the council begin in October 2026. See who is running for council
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