Wonman Lee for Menlo Park · District 1

You’re the mayor.How would you spend the city’s budget?

What should the next City Council get done? Big or small: a crosswalk, a park, flooding mitigation, housing, a program for your kids. Every idea has a price tag, and the city’s budget has to balance.

The budget game

  1. Add your idea Name it and give it a price tag. It starts in Not funded.
  2. Make room Tap a funded block to cut it, or draw on reserves.
  3. Fund it Tap your idea to move it into Funded. Keep Room left at $0 or more and you win; go over and it turns red.
Start: add your idea ↓Nothing you do here is saved or sent anywhere.
Room left$9,296

Your move: tap a block to cut it or fund it.

This year’s General Fund: $89.8 million

Already spoken for $85.3 million See every lineIn play $4.5 million

Funded

$4,525,000 of $4,534,296

The part the council debated in May and June: this year’s capital projects, building and repairing streets, drains, parks and city buildings ($3.1 million) and services it put a price on ($1.4 million). Each block’s size is its cost.

  • Library and Community Services
  • Public Works
  • Capital projects
  • Citywide
  • Your ideas

Not funded

Same scale as Funded
  • More capital projects$1M
  • Pool hours after Labor Day$273K
  • Weed removal without herbicides$142K
  • Safe Routes to School consultant$105K
  • Median and roadside landscaping$70K
  • Santa Cruz Avenue tree-light upkeep$43K

Add your idea

Every idea needs a price tag. Its block is drawn to scale.

Or draw on reserves

On June 9, staff asked the council to cut more or use reserves. These are unassigned reserves, the part not set aside for emergencies. Reserves are one-time money, they already sit below the City’s own minimums, and next year’s budget is forecast to start $3.8 million short.

Where the money comes from

The General Fund expects to take in $89.9 million this year. Property tax brings in the most, then hotel tax, which hotel guests pay; the rest is fees, smaller taxes and interest. Tap a source to see what’s in it.

  • All of the above$90,125,783
  • Less the June change for library and recreation programs, now paid from another fund−$273,655
  • Money the General Fund expects this year$89,852,128
  • Less what it plans to spend−$89,842,832
  • Left to spare$9,296

Every revenue line in the City’s adopted 2026–27 budget data (OpenGov).

How Prop 13 shapes the city’s budget

Where a property-tax dollar goes, in one Menlo Park tax area

  • Schools and colleges 47¢
  • County 14¢
  • Fire district 13¢
  • State school fund 13¢
  • City of Menlo Park 10¢
  • Other districts 4¢

Prop 13, the measure California voters passed in 1978, caps property tax at 1% of a property’s assessed value, and lets that value rise at most 2% a year until the property sells. A sale, a new building or an addition is assessed at full value. The city gets only a slice of that 1%: about a dime of each dollar in the area the City studied in 2022. Schools, the county and the fire district get most of the rest.

That means the tax on a property that doesn’t sell can grow only about 2% a year. With sales and new buildings, the City budgeted its main property tax up about 3.7% this year, while costs like salaries and benefits often rise faster. The City’s own forecast has spending growing faster than revenue over the next five years, which is why next year starts short. Prop 13 is state law; the council can’t change it. What it can do is grow the base and plan for slow growth.

How that compares with our neighbors

Per resident, Menlo Park’s General Fund takes in about what Redwood City’s does. The biggest gap is sales tax: about half of what either neighbor collects per person.

Per resident, 2026–27Menlo ParkRedwood CityPalo Alto
All General Fund money$2,660$2,610$4,520
Property tax$1,150$1,080$1,100
Sales tax$210$440$480
Hotel tax$540$60$460

Not quite apples to apples. Redwood City and Palo Alto pay for their own fire departments out of these budgets, about $640 and $910 per resident; Menlo Park’s fire service is a separate district with its own share of property tax. Palo Alto also gets about $420 per resident from its city-owned utilities, and part of Redwood City’s sales tax is a half-cent its voters added. From each city’s adopted 2026–27 budget and the state’s Jan. 1, 2026 population counts.

Where all $89.8 million goes

The blocks above are the part the council debated. This is all of it, from the City’s own budget data. Tap any row to see what’s inside it, down to each line item.

  • All of the above$94,643,267
  • Less savings the budget expects from vacant positions−$4,526,780
  • Less library and recreation programs moved to another fund in June−$273,655
  • The adopted General Fund$89,842,832

Every line item in the City’s adopted 2026–27 budget data (OpenGov).

How the council balanced it in June

The City’s first forecast for 2026–27 was $7.9 million short. These are the steps that closed the gap, from the City’s June 23 presentation.

The result was a balanced budget with $9,296 to spare, without touching reserves.

Where I’d start

The board above gives you the two levers a council has in June: cut something, or draw on reserves. I’d reach for those last. Here’s where I’d start, so next June has more room. My full platform.

43%of this year’s General Fund is property tax

A budget shows what you put first

Property tax is the biggest source of money for city services: $38.9 million this year, counting a one-time state payment. The taxable value of most property can rise only 2% a year until it sells, but new buildings are taxed on their full value. That’s why I’m for more development, in the right places: it’s how we grow that base.

That means the homes our families need, together with the hotels, shops and businesses that help pay for parks, libraries and police. Hotel tax is already the second-biggest source, $18.4 million, and a hotel now being built could add about $1.9 million a year once it opens.

  • Cut services last

    Cutting services is my last resort. This year’s budget balanced with $1.9 million in one-time money from the state, and next year’s is forecast to start $3.8 million short. I’d plan as if that state money won’t come again.

  • Rebuild the reserves

    Menlo Park’s reserves equal about 37% of a year’s spending; nearby cities keep 56% to 114%. Reserves carry a city through a bad year and protect its AAA credit rating, which keeps borrowing cheap.

  • Fix a tax unchanged since 1978

    The business license tax brings in about $2.5 million a year, under rules set in 1978. Foster City, Redwood City and South San Francisco updated theirs in 2024. I’d do the same, with businesses at the table. Small businesses and grocery stores would pay little or nothing, the largest employers a fair share with a reasonable cap, and voters would decide in 2028.

  • Keep sales tax in Menlo Park

    Sales tax helps pay for parks, code enforcement and youth programs, yet a 2022 City study found Menlo Park’s taxable sales per person were about half the regional average: residents shop elsewhere. I’d work to bring a grocery store, pharmacy and bank to District 1: they’d serve neighbors and keep more of their shopping in Menlo Park.

    In my platform →

  • Get more from what we already pay for

    One app for city services and online permits with real deadlines save staff time. Street sweeping at night, when the curb is clear, keeps storm drains from clogging. And the new gyms at the Belle Haven Community Campus and, with a joint-use agreement, Belle Haven Elementary can host programs that teach kids basketball.

    In my platform →

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I’m Wonman Lee, running for Menlo Park City Council in District 1. If you live in District 1, I’d be grateful for your vote: return your ballot by Tuesday, November 3, at 8 p.m. No stamp needed. Wherever you live, a donation helps me keep explaining how our city works.

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