Assistant City Manager

Sara Costlow, CGFO, MBA

Sara Robinson 2023

The assistant city manager provides highly responsible staff assistance to the city manager, including:

  • Supervising assigned departments and activities
  • Assisting in providing internal control
  • Coordinating city programs
  • Responding to citizen complaints and requests
  • Preparing and administering the budget
  • Assuring that departmental operations are performed in concert with all applicable laws, ordinances, and direction from the City Council

Sara Costlow is the Assistant City Manager for the City of Deer Park, the Birthplace of Texas. Before transitioning to City Management, she served as the City of Deer Park’s Director of Finance. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a dual undergraduate Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), double majored in Accounting and Finance at the University of Houston.

Costlow is a Certified Government Finance Officer (CGFO), accredited by the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas (GFOAT), and a graduate of the Texas Women’s Leadership Institute (TWLI) facilitated by Texas Women Leading Government (TWLG). She is a member of the International City Management Association (ICMA) and the Texas City Management Association (TCMA), served on the TCMA Board of Directors as the state-wide elected Director at Large (DAL) from 2023-2025, and is a past president of TCMA Region 6. Costlow also serves as the Treasurer for the Rotary Club of Deer Park, and is on the Advisory Board for The Wheelhouse.