City government · San Diego County, CA

National City's money: where it comes from and where it goes

In the latest recorded fiscal year (ended July 31, 2021), National City took in $116 million and spent $193 million.

Latest recorded year: ended July 31, 2021Comes from Goes to

See every government that serves your ZIP

Where it comes from

City taxes52%Fees for services (housing, sewer)26%Fines and other8.2%State tax money5.2%Federal tax money4.3%County and local tax money4.3%

What stands out

35%

of National City's money comes from sales tax.A typical U.S. city of 50,000+ people gets 7.8%.

City taxes52%

Sales tax

35%$40.6 million

Property tax

11%$13.3 million

Other taxes

5.1%$5.9 million

What's in other taxesPublic utility taxes; other selective sales taxes and 4 more

Public utility taxes$2.4 million
Other selective sales taxes$1.9 million
Other licenses$658 thousand
Occupation and business licenses$624 thousand
Real estate and stock transfer taxes$307 thousand
Other taxes not classified elsewhere$23 thousand

Amounts are by Census tax category.

Fees for services26%

Fees for services

26%$30.6 million

What's in fees for servicesHousing; sewer and 2 more

Housing$15.1 million
Sewer$11.1 million
Other service charges$4.1 million
Parks and recreation$218 thousand

Amounts are by Census type of charge.

Federal tax money4.3%

Grants from Washington, paid for by the federal taxes residents also pay.

From the federal government

4.3%$5.0 million

State tax money5.2%

Money the state passes on, paid for by the state taxes residents also pay.

From the state

5.2%$6.1 million

County and local tax money4.3%

Money passed on by the county or other local governments.

From the county and other local governments

4.3%$4.9 million

Fines and other8.2%

Interest, rents and other

7.7%$9.0 million

Fines

0.4%$505 thousand

Where it goes

Running the government and other costs50%Police, fire, courts and jails23%Housing and community development15%Water, sewer, trash and utilities4.0%Roads, transit and parking3.1%All other spending4.6%

What stands out

50%

of National City's spending goes to running the government and other costs.A typical U.S. city of 50,000+ people spends 16%.

Spending by category100%

Running the government and other costs

50%$96.9 million

What's in running the government and other costsCentral staff services (personnel, purchasing, technology); other and not broken out and 1 more

Central staff services (personnel, purchasing, technology)$95.1 million
Other and not broken out$2.0 million
Finance, tax collection and budgeting-$143 thousand

Police, fire, courts and jails

23%$44.1 million

What's in police, fire, courts and jailsPolice; fire protection and 1 more

Police$28.3 million
Fire protection$12.7 million
Inspections and regulation$3.1 million

Housing and community development

15%$29.5 million

Water, sewer, trash and utilities

4.0%$7.6 million

What's in water, sewer, trash and utilitiesSewer systems

Sewer systems$7.6 million

Roads, transit and parking

3.1%$5.9 million

What's in roads, transit and parkingRoads and highways

Roads and highways$5.9 million

Parks, recreation and libraries

2.7%$5.2 million

What's in parks, recreation and librariesParks and recreation and libraries

Parks and recreation$3.2 million
Libraries$2.1 million

Health and hospitals

1.5%$3.0 million

What's in health and hospitalsPublic health

Public health$3.0 million

Interest on debt

0.3%$633 thousand

Sources and moreWhere these numbers come from and what they cover

City of National City. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Census of Governments, Finance, individual unit file, fiscal year ended July 31, 2021. The Census record for this government is from the 2022 survey, the newest on file.

What this covers. The money of City of National City itself. Other governments that serve the same area (the city, county, school district and state) are separate and not included. Borrowing, transfers between a government's own funds, and pension trust funds are not counted as revenue.