The Dallas city manager is the appointed chief executive who runs the city’s daily operations, oversees roughly 15,300 employees, and administers a $5.20 billion budget on behalf of more than 1.3 million residents. Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has held the job since January 2025 at an annual salary of $450,000.1City of Dallas. City Manager Agreement of Employment Analysis The 15-member City Council hires the manager, sets the pay, and can remove the manager by a two-thirds vote.
What the City Manager Does
Dallas uses a council-manager form of government. Elected council members set policy and pass ordinances; the manager handles execution. Under Chapter VI, Section 2 of the city charter, the manager is “responsible to the council for the proper administration of all the city affairs” placed in their hands.2City of Dallas. Dallas City Charter – Chapter VI, Section 2 In practice, that covers every department, from police and fire to code enforcement, parks, water, and the library system.
The charter gives the manager four core powers:
- Appoint and remove all department directors and subordinate employees, with hires made “upon merit and fitness alone.” Civil service positions remain subject to the charter’s civil service rules.2City of Dallas. Dallas City Charter – Chapter VI, Section 2
- Enforce the city’s laws and ordinances by directing the relevant departments to carry them out.
- Exercise control over every city department and subdivision, with department heads reporting to the manager’s office.
- Monitor utility franchises for compliance and alert the city attorney when a franchisee falls short.2City of Dallas. Dallas City Charter – Chapter VI, Section 2
The manager relies on an executive leadership team of multiple assistant city managers, each overseeing a cluster of departments. That structure is how one office keeps effective control over about 15,300 employees spread across dozens of service areas.3City of Dallas. Community Profile
Who the City Manager Answers To
The council hires the city manager under Chapter VI, Section 1 of the charter, selecting the person “solely on the basis of executive and administrative training, experience, and ability, and without regard to political consideration.”4City of Dallas. Dallas City Charter – Chapter VI, Section 1 A sitting council member cannot be selected. The manager need not live in Dallas when appointed but must move into the city within a timeframe the council sets.
There is no fixed term. The manager serves at the council’s pleasure and can be removed by a two-thirds vote of the full membership — ten of fifteen members — “unless otherwise provided by contract.” That contract exception matters, because individual employment agreements can modify how removal plays out. The charter is explicit that the council’s removal decision is final: “all authority and fix all responsibility for such removal” rests with the council, with no appeal or review.4City of Dallas. Dallas City Charter – Chapter VI, Section 1
Day to day, the manager works most closely with the mayor, who chairs council meetings and sets agendas. The mayor does not supervise the manager. That distinction is at the center of a recurring debate over whether Dallas should switch to a strong-mayor system, most recently floated in 2024, but no proposal has reached a charter vote.
Budget and Spending Authority
The city manager prepares and submits the annual budget to the council for review and adoption. The fiscal year 2025–26 budget totals $5.20 billion across the general fund, enterprise funds, debt service, capital projects, grants, and trust funds.5Dallas City News. Dallas City Council Approves Budget for FY 2025-26 Building that budget means forecasting revenue, negotiating with departments over spending priorities, and presenting a balanced plan the council can adopt.
Once the budget is adopted, the manager executes it, but not without ceilings. The council keeps approval power over large expenditures. In October 2025, the council raised those thresholds: contracts for architecture and construction now need council sign-off only above $500,000, and the threshold for goods and services was set at $300,000. Routine purchases below those lines move without a council vote.
Emergency Authority
During disasters, the manager’s role expands. Under Dallas’s Master Emergency Operations Plan, the city manager provides overall direction of response activities across all departments and typically coordinates from the Emergency Operations Center.6City of Dallas. Master Emergency Operations Plan Framework The manager is authorized to activate the EOC and must approve the plan itself.
If the manager is unavailable, the plan sets a line of succession: the chief of staff steps in first, then the assistant city manager for public safety, then the assistant city manager for quality of life, arts, and culture.6City of Dallas. Master Emergency Operations Plan Framework Decisions about evacuations, road closures, and resource deployment during ice storms, tornadoes, or extreme heat events cannot wait for a council meeting.
Salary and Contract Terms
The charter gives the council full discretion to set the manager’s pay. Tolbert’s employment agreement puts her annual base salary at $450,000.1City of Dallas. City Manager Agreement of Employment Analysis
Her contract does not include a traditional lump-sum severance package. If the council removes her by the required two-thirds vote, the city will provide enough accrued vacation leave to bridge her to retirement eligibility under the Dallas City Code. That bridge is temporary. Once she reaches full retirement eligibility, estimated at roughly two years from her appointment, it expires, and she serves purely at the council’s will with no predetermined payout.1City of Dallas. City Manager Agreement of Employment Analysis Severance protections also vanish if the manager is removed for a felony conviction or a crime involving official duties.
Her predecessor’s deal was different. That contract entitled the manager to a lump sum equal to twelve months of base salary plus twelve months of benefits upon involuntary separation.1City of Dallas. City Manager Agreement of Employment Analysis Each contract is individually negotiated, so these terms change with every appointment.
How Performance Is Tracked
Dallas uses a formal performance program called Dallas 365, consisting of 35 metrics that measure city operations across priorities like public safety, transportation, economic development, and sustainability. The metrics are reported to the council monthly and include targets such as the percentage of emergency medical responses arriving within nine minutes, the share of potholes repaired within three days, and the recycling diversion rate.7Dallas City Hall. Performance Measures Dallas 365 tracks department-level results rather than grading the manager personally, but sustained shortfalls reach the manager’s office.
The Current Manager and Recent Turnover
Tolbert, who had served as a deputy and assistant city manager under T.C. Broadnax, was appointed by the council in January 2025.1City of Dallas. City Manager Agreement of Employment Analysis Her selection reflected the council’s preference for internal continuity over an outside hire. Broadnax had held the role from 2017 until mid-2024, when council members pushed him to resign over what they described as an unworkable relationship with Mayor Eric Johnson.
Dallas’s estimated population stands at roughly 1,329,000, making it the ninth-largest city in the country and one of the largest still operating under a pure council-manager system.8U.S. Census Bureau. Dallas City, Texas QuickFacts The job carries the authority to run a city of that scale, and the vulnerability of serving entirely at the council’s discretion.