How Sunrise is run
Who runs Sunrise, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Sunrise's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Sunrise
An appointed city manager runs the city day to day and appoints department heads. The five-member city commission, including the mayor, makes laws, sets policy and adopts the budget.
What they are paid
- City pays the yearly maximum into a money purchase retirement plan for the City Manager
- City contributes 6% of pay to a money purchase retirement plan for each commissioner
Sunrise city staff
1,224 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 283, Water and wastewater 266, Recreation (Leisure Services) 188, Fire Rescue 178. FY2025-26 adopted budget. City of Sunrise · Oct 1, 2025
The budget lists positions by department. We found no city-published pay list by name or position; Florida has no statewide pay database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Sunrise in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $65.4M (2025-09-30). City of Sunrise · Mar 19, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2025-26.
Comes from
- Property taxes$67.1M · 36%
- Charges for services$38.9M · 21%
- Fire rescue assessment$16.1M · 9%
- Utility service taxes$13.3M · 7%
- State and county shared revenue$12.5M · 7%
- Franchise fees$12M · 6%
- Other (business taxes, permits, fines, interest, transfers in)$27.1M · 14%
Goes to (FY2025-26)
- Police$61.2M · 33%
- Fire Rescue$41.6M · 22%
- Non-departmental (transfers, insurance, citywide costs)$28.7M · 15%
- Leisure Services (parks and recreation)$22.7M · 12%
- Community Development$7.7M · 4%
- Public Works$7.6M · 4%
- Finance and Administrative Services$7.3M · 4%
- Other (commission, manager, clerk, attorney, HR)$10.1M · 5%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a Sunrise homeowner pays, about 31 cents goes to the city, about 32 cents to the school board and about 28 cents to Broward County.
31¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Sunrise
- Broward County School Board (operating)6.294 · 31%
- City of Sunrise (operating)6.0543 · 30%
- Broward County5.6628 · 28%
- North Broward Hospital District1.2391 · 6%
- Children's Services Council0.45 · 2%
- City of Sunrise (voter-approved debt)0.2865 · 1%
- South Florida Water Management District0.2301 · 1%
- Broward County School Board (voter-approved debt)0.1587 · <1%
- Florida Inland Navigation District0.027 · <1%
- Total (mills)20.4025
2026 tax year (FY2026-27) rates for a home in the city of Sunrise (Broward County). Broward County Property Appraiser · Oct 1, 2026
See what a Sunrise house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Sunrise is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe citySunrise Police Department
- Fire protectionThe citySunrise Fire Rescue
- WaterThe cityCity of Sunrise Utilities
- SewerThe cityCity of Sunrise Utilities
- Natural gasThe cityCity of Sunrise gas utilitySunrise runs its own gas utility.
- Trash collectionContractorAll Service Refuse Company (city franchise hauler)All Service Refuse is the only approved solid waste hauler in the city.
- StormwaterThe cityCity of Sunrise
- Parks and recreationThe citySunrise Leisure Services
- StreetsThe cityCity of Sunrise Public Works
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | North PortFL | SunriseFL | PlantationFL | DeltonaFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 96,301 | 98,310 | 98,437 | 98,792 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $260,168 | Not confirmed | Not current (2019) | $225,000 |
| Council member pay | $66,648 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,037 | $1,901 | $1,615 | $796 |
| Debt per resident | $992 | $2,131 | $502 | $1,454 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $777 | $2,259 | $845 | $75 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 9.8 | 12.4 | 9.4 | 4.2 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how). Deltona pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Sunrise publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Audited financial report filed on timeFY2025 audited report, with an auditors' opinion dated March 18, 2026, is on the Florida Auditor General site, inside the nine-month state deadline. Florida Auditor General
- Yes: Adopted budget posted online City of Sunrise · Oct 1, 2025
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no manager contract or salary resolution online. The budget shows only the City Manager's Office total. City of Sunrise · Oct 1, 2025
- No: Employee pay publishedWe found no city-published pay list by position. The budget lists positions by department. Florida has no statewide database. City of Sunrise · Oct 1, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- The general fund ended FY2024-25 with $65,444,376 unassigned, on top of its committed reserves. What is that money set aside for?
- The three city pension plans were $222,053,066 short of what they owe. What is the plan to close that gap?
- The general fund budget for FY2025-26 is $186,848,900 and the city tax rate has stayed at 6.0543 mills. How long can that rate hold as costs rise?
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