Every year, city councils create a budget based on their community goals. To better understand what drives different budgets among Southern California cities, we look at the overall differences between budget sizes and the potential drivers for this difference. We then deep dive into two particular cities, Santa Monica and Ventura, to compare their respective budgets from a revenue and expenditure perspective.

1. IMPERIAL
SAN DIEGO
RIVERSIDE
ORANGE
SAN BERNARDINO
KERN
VENTURA
SANTA
BARBARA
SAN LUIS
OBISPO
SHOW ME THE MONEY
how city budgets operate in
Southern California
Each City Council creates an annual budget based
on its community goals for the fiscal year.
The size of the per capita budget generally depends
on median home value because cities accumulate
funds from property taxes.
How big is the budget for different
Southern California cities?
The average median home value
SANTA MONICA
$6,358/capita
LONG BEACH
$6,013/capita
CARLSBAD
$2,338/capita
MURRIETA
$647/capita
CHULA VISTA
$497/capita
EL CAJON
$590/capita
ESCONDIDO
$580/capita
COMPTON
$436/capita
MISSION VIEJO
$650/capita
VENTURA
$855/capita
EL MONTE
$776/capita
IRVINE
$1,361/capita
SANTA CLARITA
$1,006/capita
FULLERTON
$1,223/capita
BURBANK
$6,188/capita
GLENDALE
$4,248/capita
BUDGET PER CAPITA*
Over $4,000
$1,000 - $4,000
$650 - $1,000
Less than $650
*Note: Data depicted is most up-to-date as provided by city websites.
The years range from 2011 - 2015.
LOS
ANGELES
AVERAGEMEDIANHOMEVALUE
SANTA MONICA
($6,358/capita)
CITY NAME
(Budget/capita)
200k
400k
600k
800k
1M
$987,300
$646,500
$445,900
$253,800
IRVINE
($1,361/capita)
VENTURA
($855/capita)
COMPTON
($436/capita)
As you can see, the size of the per capita budget is
highly correlated with average median home value.
But this is not the whole picture.
The nature of a city’s taxes also affects the budget.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Let’s take a closer look at Santa Monica and Irvine
– two cities that operate at widely different per
capita budget sizes.
In Santa Monica, property
taxes account for 9% of
total revenues, suggesting
that property taxes indicate
wealth concentration in the
city. Yet property taxes are
not the largest contributor
to city revenues.
Charges for services, other
taxes, and sales taxes
comprise a larger portion of
citywide revenues at 25%,
24%, and 18% of total
revenues, respectively.
Therefore, disposable
income (spent on goods and
services) is a much greater
predictor of governmental
revenues in Santa Monica.
PROPERTY TAXES
9% ($44.3M)
FY 2014-2015 PROJECTED CITYWIDE
REVENUES BY CATEGORY
FY 2014-2015 PROJECTED CITYWIDE
REVENUES BY CATEGORY
CHARGES FOR
SERVICES
25% ($125.4M)
SALES TAXES
18% ($92.7M)
OTHER TAXES
24% ($122.2M)
And where does this money go?
PUBLIC SAFETY
35% ($110.6M)
PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
20% ($61.4M)
SUPPORT SERVICES
19% ($60.6M)
RECREATION
12% ($36.7M)
A majority (55%) of Santa Monica’s expenditures go
to public safety and planning and development.
The picture in Irvine is fairly similar to Santa Monica.
Unlike Santa Monica, both sales taxes and property
taxes comprise a large portion of governmental
revenues in Irvine, such that both disposable income
and home value contribute fairly equally to the city’s
annual revenues.
Where does the money come from?
Where does the money come from?
Starting with Santa Monica . . .
In Irvine, the majority of the
citywide revenues come
from property taxes and
sales taxes, accounting for
31% and 36% of annual
revenues, respectively.
PROPERTY TAXES
31% ($48.8M)
SALES TAXES
36% ($56.9M)
FY 2014-2015 PROJECTED CITYWIDE
REVENUES BY CATEGORY
And where does this money go?
PUBLIC SAFETY
41% ($64.2M)
PUBLIC WORKS
19% ($30.7M)
COMMUNITY SERVICES
19% ($29.4M)
Much like Santa Monica, the majority (79%) of
Irvine’s expenditures go to public safety, public
works, and community services.
Irvine’s large investment in safety has paid off – the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has
recognized Irvine as the safest big city for the past
nine years.
More information can be found at roseinstitute.org.
Want to learn more about city budgets?