How Ventura is run
Who runs Ventura, 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 Ventura's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Ventura
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day and appoints department directors. The seven council members are elected by district to four-year terms; they make policy, pass ordinances, adopt the budget and hire the city manager and city attorney. The council picks one of its members as mayor every two years.
What they are paid
- Expense reimbursement of $200 a month ($300 for the mayor) for local travel and other council costs
- May join the city's health, dental and vision plans
- May choose CalPERS pension or Social Security, and may join the city's deferred compensation plan
Ventura city staff
716 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 190, Ventura Water 122, Fire 105, General government 103, Public Works 90. FY2026-27. Adopted full-time equivalent positions, all departments, including Ventura Water. City of Ventura · Jun 10, 2026
The budget book lists monthly and hourly pay ranges for every job class. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Ventura 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 against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $0 (2025-06-30). That means every dollar the general fund has saved is set aside in a named reserve or category, not that it has no savings. The city's own target: Keep a committed catastrophic reserve of at least 60 days of annual operating spending, reviewed every year. At June 30, 2025 it held $23.7 million, part of $30.2 million of committed general fund balance and separate from the unassigned balance, which fell to $0. City of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 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 (proposed).
Comes from
- Property tax$56.9M · 37%
- Sales and use taxes$32.7M · 21%
- Charges for services$18M · 12%
- Utility tax$11.3M · 7%
- Transient occupancy (hotel) tax$8.5M · 6%
- Franchise and PEG fees$6.7M · 4%
- Business tax$4.9M · 3%
- Other (licenses and permits, interest and rents, internal charges, fines, prior-year resources, misc.)$14.1M · 9%
Goes to (FY2026-27 (proposed))
- Police$47.1M · 31%
- Fire$26.6M · 17%
- Parks and Recreation$24.9M · 16%
- Public Works$17.3M · 11%
- Community Development$10.3M · 7%
- Non-departmental (transfers, insurance, contingencies)$8.4M · 5%
- City Manager's office$7.7M · 5%
- Other (Finance, City Attorney, Human Resources, City Council)$10.7M · 7%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
The city has no voter-approved property tax rate of its own; it gets a share of the 1% base levy, which this table does not break out. The city's budget summary says about 17 cents of a typical property tax dollar goes to the city. Some areas of the city do not pay the Casitas water bond rate.
0¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Ventura
- 1% base levy (shared by the county, the city, schools and other agencies)1 · 92%
- Ventura Unified School District bondsTwo bond rates: 0.0149 and 0.0592 (Measure E)0.0741 · 7%
- Ventura County Community College District bonds0.0139 · 1%
- Casitas Municipal Water District bonds0.004029 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.092029
FY2025-26 rates for a home in the city of Ventura (Ventura County), tax rate area 05001. County of Ventura Auditor-Controller
See what a Ventura house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Ventura is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityVentura Police DepartmentCity of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 2025
- 911 dispatchThe cityVentura Police Department (Command Center)City of Ventura · Apr 28, 2026
- FireThe cityVentura Fire DepartmentCity of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 2025
- EMS / paramedicsThe cityVentura Fire DepartmentCity of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 2025
- Water and sewerThe cityVentura Water (city-run utility)Serves over 110,000 peopleCity of Ventura · Apr 28, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity of Ventura Public WorksCity of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 2025
- ParksThe cityCity of Ventura Parks and RecreationOver 46 parks covering 800+ acresCity of Ventura · Apr 28, 2026
- LibraryContractorCounty of VenturaThe city contracts with the countyCity of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 2025
- Animal controlContractorCounty of VenturaThe city contracts with the countyCity of Ventura (San Buenaventura) · Dec 24, 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 | VenturaCA | ChicoCA | El MonteCA | West CovinaCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 108,061 | 108,113 | 108,192 | 108,937 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $321,173 | $285,000 | $389,953 | $249,562 |
| Council member pay | $7,200 | Not confirmed | $8,800 | $24,324 |
| General fund per resident | $1,423 | $997 | $1,078 | $915 |
| Debt per resident | $1,667 | $132 | $1,480 | $2,118 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $2,328 | $1,470 | $566 | $297 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 6.6 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 4.0 |
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). El Monte pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Ventura publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted online City of Ventura
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's vote, e.g. the June 9, 2026 budget hearing votes. City of Ventura
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Ventura
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe city's salary resolution lists monthly pay of $600 for council members and $700 for the mayor. City of Ventura
- Yes: Employee pay published City of Ventura · Apr 28, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The city expects to recover storm and emergency costs from FEMA and CalOES. How much has been received so far, and what happens if less comes back?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Ventura next?
One tap, no sign-in. We count answers; we never show who chose what.
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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