show me the money: how city budgets work in southern california
TRANSCRIPT
IMPERIALSAN DIEGO
RIVERSIDEORANGE
SAN BERNARDINO
KERN
VENTURA
SANTABARBARA
SAN LUISOBISPO
SHOW ME THE MONEYhow 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 differentSouthern 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 c i ty websites. The years range from 2011 - 2015.
LOSANGELES
AVER
AGE
MED
IAN
HO
ME
VALU
E
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 TAXES9% ($44.3M)
FY 2014-2015 PROJECTED CITYWIDEREVENUES BY CATEGORY
FY 2014-2015 PROJECTED CITYWIDEREVENUES BY CATEGORY
CHARGES FOR SERVICES
25% ($125.4M)
SALES TAXES18% ($92.7M)
OTHER TAXES24% ($122.2M)
And where does this money go?
PUBLIC SAFETY35% ($110.6M)
PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT20% ($61.4M)
SUPPORT SERVICES19% ($60.6M)
RECREATION12% ($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 TAXES31% ($48.8M)
SALES TAXES36% ($56.9M)
FY 2014-2015 PROJECTED CITYWIDEREVENUES BY CATEGORY
And where does this money go?
PUBLIC SAFETY41% ($64.2M)
PUBLIC WORKS19% ($30.7M)
COMMUNITY SERVICES19% ($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?