How Clarksville is run
Who runs Clarksville, 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 Clarksville's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Clarksville
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
Clarksville city staff
1,724 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police (including dispatch) 441, Gas, water and sewer 336, Fire 283, Electric and broadband (CDE Lightband) 217. FY2025. Full-time employees, including 649 in the electric, gas, water, sewer and transit utilities. City of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
Tennessee has no statewide public pay database for cities, and we found no city list of pay by position. The budget shows salary totals by department. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Clarksville 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: $47.9M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Keep unassigned general fund balance at no less than 20% of the next year's budgeted spending and transfers out. The audit says the $47.9M balance equals 29.6% of that amount. The city meets this target. City of Clarksville · 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
- Taxes$129M · 69%
- State and other intergovernmental revenue$35.9M · 19%
- Payments in lieu of taxes from city utilities$11.7M · 6%
- Licenses and permits$3.8M · 2%
- Charges for services$3M · 2%
- Other$3.1M · 2%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police and dispatch$57.5M · 31%
- Fire Rescue$35.4M · 19%
- Transfer to debt service$21.6M · 12%
- Street Department$20.2M · 11%
- Parks, recreation and golf$13.4M · 7%
- Transit subsidy$6.4M · 3%
- Other departments and agencies$33.4M · 18%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Clarksville property owners pay the city rate plus the Montgomery County rate. For FY2026-27 the council set the city rate at $1.02.
30¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Clarksville
- City of Clarksville0.88 · 30%
- Montgomery County2.1 · 70%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)2.98
FY2025 rates for a property in the city of Clarksville (Montgomery County). City of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
See what a Clarksville home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Clarksville is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityCity of ClarksvilleCity of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- FireThe cityCity of ClarksvilleCity of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- Natural gas, water and sewerThe cityCity of Clarksville (Clarksville Gas and Water)Also serves communities outside city limits.City of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- Electricity and broadbandThe cityCity of Clarksville (CDE Lightband, the Department of Electricity)Provides electric, telephone, internet and video through fiber to the home within city limits.City of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- StreetsThe cityCity of ClarksvilleCity of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of ClarksvilleCity of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- Public transit and parkingThe cityCity of ClarksvilleCity of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- Municipal courtThe cityCity of ClarksvilleCity of Clarksville · 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 | SmyrnaTN | HendersonvilleTN | Johnson CityTN | ClarksvilleTN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 63,321 | 64,266 | 74,943 | 188,829 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $237,205 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $8,064 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,062 | $1,031 | $1,734 | $995 |
| Debt per resident | $968 | $110 | $2,754 | $2,987 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $-2 | $179 | $49 | $213 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 6.0 | 29.1 | 9.1 |
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 Clarksville publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineClarksville has no city manager. The elected mayor is the executive head, and we found no contract for the chief of staff. City of Clarksville · Dec 30, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member online City of Clarksville · Jul 9, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedWe found no salary list on the city site. The budget gives salary totals by department only. City of Clarksville · May 29, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The proposed budget sends $21.6M of the general fund to debt service, more than the $20.2M for the Street Department. Which bond issues drive that amount?
Help decide what comes next
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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?
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