How Seguin is run
Who runs Seguin, 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 Seguin's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Seguin
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day and hires department directors and all other employees. The council adopts the budget, sets the tax rate, passes ordinances and appoints the city manager.
What they are paid
- Six months' full salary and benefits as a lump sum if fired while willing and able to serve
- $10,000 a year in deferred compensation at the start, which the council may raise
- $700 a month vehicle allowance
- City pays the employee share of health, dental and vision premiums for him and his dependents, not his spouse
- The mayor also gets a $2,819.96 yearly vehicle allowance and a $600.08 yearly phone allowance
- Pay rises with the cost-of-living raises approved for city employees
- Members are not required to accept the pay
Seguin city staff
488 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 98, Fire/EMS 81, Public works 35. FY2025. From the city's Human Resources Department, up from 355 in FY2016. The FY2026-27 budget letter counts 527 full-time positions, up from 374 in 2017. City of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
We found no city-published pay list by position. The budget shows salary totals by department. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Seguin 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 city manager called the FY2026-27 budget balanced; it uses $4.0 million of general fund balance. He cited the loss of a major taxpayer, about $500,000 in property tax, and said departments cut operating budgets by about 10% to pay for a cost-of-living raise. City of Seguin · Aug 12, 2026
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $30.6M (2025-09-30). The city's own target: The council's target is a general fund balance of at least three months of spending and recurring transfers. The city's goal for a separate emergency fund is at least $2 million. City of Seguin · Mar 16, 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 and franchise taxes$25.9M · 43%
- Sales tax$15.4M · 25%
- Payments from other city funds$6.5M · 11%
- Charges for services$5.7M · 9%
- Licenses and permits$2.9M · 5%
- Other revenues$1.8M · 3%
- Intergovernmental$1.7M · 3%
- Other (fines and other financing)$851,050 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$14.2M · 24%
- Fire/EMS$13.4M · 22%
- Transfer to debt service fund$9.9M · 16%
- Non-departmental$7.3M · 12%
- Parks and recreation$3.3M · 5%
- Public works$3.1M · 5%
- Planning and codes$2.9M · 5%
- All other departments and transfers, less an $8.0M indirect cost allocation$6.4M · 11%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a Seguin homeowner pays, about 27 cents goes to the city. For FY2026-27 the city set its rate at 52.94 cents, above the no-new-revenue rate of 52.00 cents.
27¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Seguin
- Seguin ISD (schools)Operations 0.6778 plus debt 0.4051.0828 · 56%
- City of Seguin (operations)0.2981 · 15%
- Guadalupe County (general fund and debt)0.2784 · 14%
- City of Seguin (debt)0.2154 · 11%
- Guadalupe County (roads and bridges)0.052 · 3%
- Total ($ per $100 of taxable value)1.9267
2025 tax year (FY2025-26) rates for a home in the city of Seguin (Guadalupe County). Texas Comptroller · Jan 28, 2026
Who provides your services
Not everything in Seguin is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe citySeguin Police DepartmentCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- FireThe citySeguin Fire/EMS DepartmentCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- EMS / ambulanceThe citySeguin Fire/EMS DepartmentCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- Police dispatchThe citySeguin Police Department dispatch divisionCity of Seguin · Aug 12, 2026
- ElectricityThe cityCity of Seguin electric utilityCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- Water and wastewaterThe cityCity of Seguin (utility fund)City of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- Trash and recyclingContractorWaste ConnectionsCity of Seguin
- City streetsThe cityCity of Seguin Public WorksCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of Seguin Parks and RecreationCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- LibraryThe citySeguin Public Library (city)City of Seguin · Mar 16, 2026
- Animal controlThe cityCity of Seguin Animal ServicesCity of Seguin · Mar 16, 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 | SeguinTX | PrincetonTX | SchertzTX | The ColonyTX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 41,048 | 43,524 | 45,978 | 46,196 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $298,081 | Not confirmed | $281,520 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not current (2022) | No salary | $6,000 | $3,000 |
| General fund per resident | $1,474 | $853 | $1,801 | $1,632 |
| Debt per resident | $16,383 | $4,346 | $3,429 | $3,784 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $853 | $34 | $468 | $293 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 11.9 | 5.3 | 9.4 | 9.6 |
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). Princeton pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Seguin 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 Seguin
- Partly: City manager's contract findable onlineHis October 2019 employment agreement is posted in Legistar, and the record of the Feb. 2024 council vote states his salary. City of Seguin · Oct 29, 2019
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member online City of Seguin
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineLegistar posts council agendas and minutes (e.g. Sept. 1, 2026) and meeting video (e.g. Sept. 15, 2026). City of Seguin
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document City of Seguin · Sep 6, 2022
- No: Employee pay publishedWe found no pay list by position on the city's financial transparency pages. The budget shows salary totals by department. City of Seguin
Questions to ask your council
- The FY2026-27 general fund budget uses $4.0 million of fund balance, and we found no multi-year forecast. How long can the city keep drawing on fund balance?
- Unassigned general fund balance was $30.6 million on September 30, 2025, well above the three-month minimum in the city's policy. How does the council decide how much to keep?
- City bonds and notes reached $672.5 million on September 30, 2025, up 26% in one year, mostly for utilities. How will utility rates cover the new debt payments?
- The city's Texas Municipal Retirement System plan had a $35.0 million net pension liability at the end of 2024 and was 79.45% funded. What is the plan to close the gap?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Seguin 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?
See something wrong? Report an error
Something wrong or missing? Tell us what and where, with a link to a source if you have one. Reports feed the next verification run.