Overview
Santa Barbara’s FY2027 recommended budget totals $717,751,300 in revenues and $723,768,525 in expenses citywide, against the council’s adopted headline of approximately $730 million — the roughly $6.2 million difference is the headline’s rounding plus the recommended-versus-final distinction disclosed above. Enterprise funds dominate both sides ($348,536,833 of revenues, $355,672,710 of expenses), followed by the General Fund. Within the General Fund operating budget, taxes of $152,353,792 — led by property tax ($56,500,000), sales and use tax ($32,500,000), and transient occupancy tax ($31,000,000) — fund police ($66,280,982) and fire ($47,491,899) as the two largest departments. Measure I, the 0.50% sales tax approved November 5, 2024 (rate 8.75% to 9.25% effective April 1, 2025), contributes $16,400,000 of the General Fund tax total.
Sources: City of Santa Barbara, Adopted Fiscal Year 2027 Budget (FY2027 Mid Cycle Recommended columns); City of Santa Barbara, adoption release, July 1, 2026.
At a glance — FY2027 recommended
Sources: City of Santa Barbara, Adopted FY2027 Budget (Recommended columns); adoption release, July 1, 2026.
Citywide, FY2027 recommended
Revenues by fund sum exactly to $717,751,300.
| Fund | Revenues |
|---|---|
| Enterprise | $348,536,833 |
| General Fund | $224,613,644 |
| Special Revenue | $41,980,363 |
| Internal Services | $67,622,208 |
| Measure C — Capital | $34,800,000 |
| General Fund — Capital | $198,252 |
| Private Purpose Trust | $0 |
| Fiduciary | $0 |
| Agency | $0 |
| Total revenues | $717,751,300 |
Expenses by fund sum exactly to $723,768,525: Enterprise $355,672,710; General Fund $222,712,007; Special Revenue $42,426,912; Internal Services $69,155,467; Measure C — Capital $33,801,429; General Fund — Capital $0; Fiduciary $0; Private Purpose Trust $0.
Notes on the General Fund totals: the citywide General Fund revenue total ($224,613,644) reconciles exactly to operating detail ($222,279,610) + Flexible Housing Fund ($2,269,034) + GPU 2030 ($65,000). The citywide General Fund expense total ($222,712,007) exceeds the operating-detail total ($221,942,973) by $769,034, unexplained in the extracted tables. The expenditure detail note states it excludes $34.8 million of budgeted capital expenditures funded by Measure C and $6.6 million of transfers out of the General Fund into other funds. The book’s narrative passage stating total General Fund revenues budgeted at $257.2 million in FY2027 is not used here because it does not match the summary tables. General Fund staffing is 684.9 FTE recommended (673.7 two-year approved); citywide staffing is 1,155.9 FTE recommended.
Source: City of Santa Barbara, Adopted FY2027 Budget (FY2027 Mid Cycle Recommended columns).
General Fund operating detail, FY2027 recommended
Tax detail sums exactly to $152,353,792.
| Tax | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Property | $56,500,000 |
| Sales and Use | $32,500,000 |
| Transient Occupancy | $31,000,000 |
| Measure I Sales | $16,400,000 |
| Utility Users | $10,540,000 |
| Business License | $3,113,792 |
| Real Property Transfer | $1,100,000 |
| Cannabis Excise | $1,200,000 |
| Total taxes | $152,353,792 |
Other operating revenues (printed total $222,279,610; components sum to $222,279,611 — $1 gap disclosed): Taxes $152,353,792; Internal Charges $29,257,510; Fees & Service Charges $21,740,289; Other Revenues $8,780,196; Use of Money & Property $3,304,824; Fines & Forfeitures $4,030,252; Intergovernmental $1,734,020; Licenses & Permits $1,078,728; Revenues $0.
Operating expenditures by department sum exactly to $221,942,973: Police $66,280,982; Fire $47,491,899; Parks and Recreation $28,847,078; Community Development $16,760,922; Public Works $17,147,080; City Administrator’s Office $13,195,092; Library $10,533,275; Finance $8,468,788; City Attorney’s Office $6,385,971; General Government $142,377; Mayor & City Council $3,402,286; Human Resources $3,159,151; Sustainability & Resilience $128,072; Water Resources $0.
Expenditures by type also sum exactly: Salaries $103,633,067; Benefits $66,250,498; Allocated Costs $22,830,911; Supplies & Services $17,097,330; Transfers $6,398,271; Special Projects $3,996,154; Non-Capital Equipment $1,229,242; Debt Services & Other $507,500; Capital Equip & Projects $0.
Source: City of Santa Barbara, Adopted FY2027 Budget (FY2027 Mid Cycle Recommended columns).
Elected officials
From the adopted budget book’s Directory of City Officials (page 16).
| Mayor | Randy Rowse |
| Councilmember, District 1 | Wendy Santamaria |
| Councilmember, District 2 | Mike Jordan |
| Councilmember, District 3 | Oscar Gutierrez |
| Councilmember, District 4 (Mayor Pro Tempore) | Kristen Sneddon |
| Councilmember, District 5 | Eric Friedman |
| Councilmember, District 6 | Meagan Harmon |
| City Administrator | Kelly McAdoo |
Source: City of Santa Barbara, Adopted FY2027 Budget, Directory of City Officials (p. 16).
Sources & notes
- Sources used: City of Santa Barbara, Adopted Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, FY2027 Mid Cycle Recommended columns (citywide and General Fund summary tables, department detail). Adopted budget book. City of Santa Barbara, adoption release, July 1, 2026 (June 30, 2026 adoption; ~$730 million headline). Adoption release.
- Sum checks: citywide revenues exact; citywide expenses exact; tax detail exact; department expenditures exact; expenditures by type exact; General Fund operating revenue components $1 above the printed total (disclosed, printed total used).
- Basis flags: all FY2027 detail figures are RECOMMENDED (mid-cycle recommended column of the adopted book), never adopted, because the release states final council actions would be reflected in the online tool after adoption; the June 30, 2026 adoption fact and ~$730M headline are shown separately; citywide GF expense exceeds operating-detail expense by $769,034, unexplained (disclosed); the book’s $257.2M General Fund narrative figure is not used (does not match the summary tables); the expenditure detail excludes $34.8M Measure C capital and $6.6M transfers out (disclosed).
- What is not claimed: no final adopted FY2027 detail figures are shown; no capital-program detail beyond the Measure C note is claimed.
- Jurisdiction palette: no verified Santa Barbara palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Hometown Numbers dark-glass theme rather than a city color.