How Boulder City is run
Who runs Boulder City, 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 Boulder City's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Boulder City
The City Manager, appointed by the council, runs the city day to day. The five-member council, including the mayor, sets policy and adopts the budget.
What they are paid
- Six months' base pay as severance if fired without cause, plus six months of COBRA premiums
- City-owned vehicle for business and personal use
- Life insurance of two times base salary
- Yearly cost-of-living raise tied to CPI, between 2% and 3%
- One-time $10,000 retention bonus after 24 months
- Up to $10,000 in moving expenses
- Travel and mileage reimbursement; no other compensation or benefits
Boulder City city staff
223 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public safety (general fund) 88, Public works (general fund) 37. FY2026-27 adopted budget. City of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
The city publishes salary ranges by job title. We found no city-published list of pay by employee. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Boulder City 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.
The city's own outlook
The budget says long-term forecasting shows the city may have to draw on its reserves, because the gap between program costs and revenues keeps growing. The FY2026-27 budget plans general fund spending above revenue, with the fund balance falling from $37,646,407 to $33,340,935. City of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $29.5M (2025-06-30). City of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
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 FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Rents (land leases)$17.3M · 35%
- Intergovernmental (mostly consolidated sales tax)$15.7M · 31%
- Charges for services$5.6M · 11%
- Drawn from fund balance$4.3M · 9%
- Licenses and permits$3.4M · 7%
- Taxes$2.6M · 5%
- Other$1.1M · 2%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Public safety$20M · 40%
- Public works$8.4M · 17%
- Culture and recreation$7.8M · 16%
- General government$6.2M · 12%
- Community support$2.1M · 4%
- Judicial (municipal court)$1.5M · 3%
- Other (transfers out and contingency)$3.9M · 8%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
About 10 cents of each property-tax dollar goes to the city ($0.26 of $2.6097 per $100 of assessed value). Half goes to the Clark County School District.
10¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Boulder City
- Clark County School DistrictOperations 0.75 and debt 0.55341.3034 · 50%
- Clark County0.5291 · 20%
- State of NevadaIncludes indigent and cooperative extension levies0.295 · 11%
- City of Boulder City0.26 · 10%
- Boulder City Library District0.2222 · 9%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)2.6097
FY2026-27 rates for a home in Boulder City (Clark County). City of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
See what a Boulder City home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Boulder City is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityCity of Boulder City Police DepartmentCity of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
- FireThe cityCity of Boulder City Fire DepartmentCity of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
- Ambulance and EMSThe cityCity of Boulder City Fire DepartmentParamedic-level transport for all emergency medical calls.City of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
- 911 dispatchThe cityCity of Boulder City Public Safety CommunicationsCity of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
- ElectricityThe cityCity of Boulder City utilitiesCity of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
- WaterThe cityCity of Boulder City utilitiesCity of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
- SewerThe cityCity of Boulder City utilitiesCity of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity of Boulder City Public WorksCity of Boulder City · Dec 30, 2025
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 | Boulder CityNV | ElkoNV | MesquiteNV | FernleyNV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 14,884 | 21,019 | 24,001 | 26,214 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $222,052 | Not current (2023) | $170,000 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $20,000 | $9,636 | Not confirmed | $15,204 |
| General fund per resident | $3,363 | $1,531 | $1,505 | $1,259 |
| Debt per resident | $845 | $387 | $408 | $1,750 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $3,281 | $1,552 | $1,548 | $417 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 15.0 | 9.4 | — | 4.0 |
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). Fernley pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Boulder City publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: City manager's contract findable online City of Boulder City · Jan 14, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's vote: the FY2026-27 budget passed 4-0 on May 26, 2026, with the mayor absent. City of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentAn April 2025 staff report states council pay of $20,000 and mayor pay of $26,000 a year. City of Boulder City · Apr 8, 2025
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Boulder City · May 26, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Land lease rents of $17,269,066 are the largest general fund source. How would the budget change if a large solar lease ended?
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $29,499,855 on June 30, 2025, and the city states no percentage target for them. Should the council adopt one?
- Council pay of $20,000 and mayor pay of $26,000 had not changed in nine years as of April 2025. Will the council act on the proposed change for new terms?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Boulder City next?
One tap, no sign-in. We count answers; we never show who chose what.
Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
See something wrong? Report an error
Something wrong or missing? Tell us what and where, with a link to a source if you have one. Reports feed the next verification run.