How Bartlett is run
Who runs Bartlett, 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 Bartlett's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Bartlett
The elected mayor is the city's chief executive and oversees day-to-day operations, with a Chief Administrative Officer in the Mayor's Office. The board of the mayor and six aldermen passes ordinances and adopts the budget. The mayor appoints department heads, subject to the board's confirmation.
What they are paid
Bartlett city staff
1,533 full-time-equivalent positions, including City schools 924, Police officers 149, Firefighters and fire officers 108. FY2024-25. City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
The budget shows salary totals and staffing by department. Tennessee has no statewide pay database, and we found no city pay list by position. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Bartlett 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 against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $19.3M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: The board keeps a committed financial stabilization account equal to 25% of next year's appropriations ($18.7 million on June 30, 2025) and a $1 million emergency account, separate from unassigned balance. Unassigned balance was about 30% of general fund spending. City of Bartlett · 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
- Property taxes$37.9M · 51%
- Local taxes$17.7M · 24%
- Intergovernmental (state shared taxes)$8.9M · 12%
- Charges for services$3.8M · 5%
- Licenses and permits$2.3M · 3%
- Court charges$2M · 3%
- Other revenue and transfers in$1.1M · 2%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$24.7M · 34%
- Fire and ambulance$16M · 22%
- Public works$7.3M · 10%
- Parks and recreation$6.6M · 9%
- Transfers out (schools, debt service, paving, capital)$5.7M · 8%
- Finance$1.6M · 2%
- Library$1.5M · 2%
- Other departments (administration, court, codes, engineering, IT, planning, performing arts and others)$10.3M · 14%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a Bartlett homeowner paid in FY2024-25, about 34 cents went to the city and 66 cents to Shelby County, including 30 cents for education. There is no separate school district rate. For FY2025-26 the city set its rate at $1.66, above the calculated certified rate of $1.31.
34¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Bartlett
- City of Bartlett1.73 · 34%
- Shelby County: education1.54 · 30%
- Shelby County: general fund1.4 · 27%
- Shelby County: debt service0.45 · 9%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)5.12
FY2024-25 property tax rates for a home in Bartlett (Shelby County). City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
See what a Bartlett house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Bartlett is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityBartlett Police DepartmentCity of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- FireThe cityBartlett Fire DepartmentCity of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- EMS / ambulanceThe cityCity of Bartlett (Fire Services and Ambulance)City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- Water and sewerThe cityCity of Bartlett (water and sewer utility fund)City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- Sewage treatmentAnother agencyCity of Memphis (for most of Bartlett's sewer system)City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- Trash collectionThe cityCity of Bartlett (solid waste collection)City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity of BartlettCity of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of Bartlett Parks & RecreationCity of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- LibraryThe cityCity of BartlettCity of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- SchoolsThe cityBartlett City Schools (city school system)Board of Education created by referendum in 2013; about 8,600 studentsCity of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- Electricity and gasAnother agencyMemphis Light, Gas and Water (City of Memphis)City of Bartlett · Dec 30, 2025
- Bus serviceAnother agencyMemphis Area Transit AuthorityCity of Bartlett · 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 | ColliervilleTN | GallatinTN | BartlettTN | SmyrnaTN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 51,909 | 54,590 | 56,416 | 63,321 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $237,205 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $12,000 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $2,018 | $1,532 | $1,304 | $1,062 |
| Debt per resident | $1,758 | $1,429 | $1,391 | $968 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $44 | $7 | $617 | $-2 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 11.3 | 8.8 | 27.2 | 8.7 |
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).
What Bartlett publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe FY2027 adopted budget is posted on the finance page with budgets back to FY2017. City of Bartlett
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe Chief Administrative Officer works in the Mayor's Office. We found no employment agreement or salary for the position on the city's pages or agendas we checked. City of Bartlett
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineBoard minutes on the city's CivicClerk portal list each alderman's aye or nay vote by name. City of Bartlett · Jun 9, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Bartlett
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentResolution 20-26 sets aldermen's pay at $12,000 a year. Resolution 21-26 sets the mayor's pay for 2027 to 2030. City of Bartlett · Jun 9, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedThe budget shows salary totals and staffing by department. We found no pay list by position or employee. City of Bartlett · Jun 9, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The mayor's salary rises from $105,000 in 2026 to $127,000 on January 1, 2027, and to $134,773 by 2030. How was the new amount set?
- The city's closed pension plan was 77.42% funded on June 30, 2025, with a net pension liability of $34.8 million. What is the plan to close that gap?
- Unassigned general fund balance was $19.3 million on June 30, 2025, on top of an $18.7 million committed stabilization account. What level of reserves does the board aim to keep?
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Bartlett 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.