Santa Monica Budget Explorer SM Budget Explorer FY 2026-27
Independent community project · not an official City of Santa Monica website · Independent · not City Hall ·

Where does Santa Monica's
$908.8 million go?

Exploring · Whole City

Whole City vs General Fund
Whole City

Everything: taxes, water, buses, grants, and the rest.

General Fund

The flexible pot for police, fire, parks, libraries, and other shared services.

Whole City is the full budget: the General Fund plus every other pot. Money outside the General Fund is earmarked for a specific use (water fees stay with water; bus grants stay with buses). General Fund dollars are the flexible ones: elected officials can shift that pot among shared services like police, fire, parks, and libraries.

Money in

Where it comes from

By source

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Most of your tax bill isn’t City Hall
Of the 10.75% sales tax, the City keeps about 2% (some of that is earmarked for schools and housing). Of a property-tax bill, about 14-17% comes to the City, depending on where in Santa Monica the property is. The rest goes to the county, schools, and special districts.
Money out

Where it goes

Spending

What’s inside Non-Departmental (estimated mix)Non-Departmental mix (est.)
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Trend

Is it balanced?

Revenue vs spending over five years. Dotted lines are plans.

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Flow

Follow the money

Left = money in. Right = money out.

On a phone this becomes stacked lists: money in, then money out.

Debt

What the city owes

"Still owed" is the outstanding principal the city still owes. "Paid this year" is what the city pays on debt out of its budget.

Services

Look up a city service

Search or filter. Each card is a department or office total for this year - not an individual salary.

Self-funded

Do they pay their own way?

User fees and grants vs spending. Surpluses stay in that fund.

Green = money in. Teal = money out.

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Take part

Make your voice count

This page explains the numbers. City Hall still decides them. Here’s when and how to weigh in.

Step 1

Find the agenda

Open Meetings, Agendas & Minutes and look for budget, forecast, or CIP items. Staff reports and Attachment-style schedules live with the agenda packet.

Step 2

Speak or write

In person, by phone, or in writing: see How to participate. Written comments: councilmtgitems@santamonica.gov (put the agenda item in the subject line).

Step 3

Check the source

Before you cite a figure at Council, match it to the City’s PDFs on Budgets & Annual Financial Reports. This site is independent and can err.

Budget calendar rhythm

  1. Jan-Feb / Mar-Apr: Five-year forecast and priority-setting (best early leverage).
  2. May: Study session on the proposed budget or mid-cycle adjustments.
  3. June: Public hearing and adoption for the coming fiscal year.
  4. October: Prior-year wrap-up / year-end review.

Pattern from the City’s biennial budget calendar. FY 2026-27 was adopted June 23, 2026; the next full biennial cycle starts with forecast and priorities in early 2027.

Five-year detail

Money in and out over time

From the City’s five-year revenue and expenditure schedules. Tap a year to compare the gap.

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About the numbers

How this works & where it comes from

Figures are from the City’s June 23, 2026 FY 2026-27 adoption, compared to last year’s plan.

Budget words, translated

Methodology & sources

What the numbers mean, and where they come from.

What year & basis?
These are adopted figures for this fiscal year (July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027), as Council approved on June 23, 2026 - compared to last year's adopted plan (FY 2025-26). They are not actual spending; that will not be known until the books close. Citywide headline totals are net of about $118M in transfers between funds, which is the $908.8M (operating $798.4M + capital $110.4M). The fund list, the trend chart, and the flow diagram run on gross amounts because they show money each time it moves. Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions.
Why is Water (or the bus) separate?
Water, sewer, and trash charge their users directly, so the city keeps them in separate enterprise funds, walled off from the General Fund that pays for police, fire, parks, and libraries. A surplus in the water fund cannot hire a police officer. Big Blue Bus sits on the same side of that wall, though it leans on grants and dedicated transit money more than on fares.
Source documents
City of Santa Monica, June 23, 2026 budget adoption (Item 12-A): staff report and Attachment D final schedules; population from the FY 2025-27 Adopted Biennial Budget. Outstanding debt and the debt-service schedule come from that biennial book’s debt appendix (as of June 30, 2024 for amounts still owed). Local copies live under sources/fy2026-27-adoption/ and sources/fy2025-27/. santamonica.gov → Budgets & Annual Financial Reports.
Corrections & contact
Found a mistake? Use at the bottom of the screen on a phone (or the tab on the right edge on desktop), or open an issue at github.com/Acheru1/santa-monica-budget-explorer. This is a resident project, not a City product. Before you cite a figure at a Council meeting or in a story, check it against the City's published budget.
Corrections & ideas

Send feedback

Spot a wrong number, a confusing chart, or something missing? Say so. This goes to the person who built the site, not City Hall.