The City of Covington approved their budget for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year on Tuesday, which includes raising all staff salaries by 5 percent, increasing part-time employees’ pay to $15 an hour, and hiring additional cadets to the Police and Fire Departments.
Covington’s budget money will go toward accomplishing short- and long-term goals listed in their 2022-2023 Fiscal Year priorities, including the Brent Spence Bridge project, City Heights relocation, and City Hall relocation. Click here to read our previous coverage.
“Since I’ve been elected, the City is doing very well,” Commissioner Ron Washington said. “We’re moving in positive directions. We just have to make sure we have the proper staffing to make sure our taxpayers are well represented because there are a lot of good things happening in our city.”
Covington’s budget includes Revenues and Expenditures, or expenses, from both the General Fund and All Other Funds. These categories are combined together to make the All Funds budget, which is the total amount of revenues and expenditures Covington anticipates to have for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year.
In total, Covington anticipates their 2022-2023 Fiscal Year All Funds Revenue to be $167,571,101, while All Funds Expenditures is anticipated to be $161,795,222.
General Fund
The General Fund is Covington’s main operating fund. Money collected for the General Fund uses revenue from tax streams like payroll and property taxes. This money is allocated to pay for things such as staff and operations, and services such as police and fire protection.
Both revenue and expenses for the 2022-23 budget are anticipated to increase from the 2021-22 fiscal year budget.
For 2022-2023, total General Fund Revenue is anticipated to be $69,213,228, up from $64,793,068. last year.
The majority of Covington’s revenue comes from businesses paying payroll taxes due to the large business presence in the city. Covington’s budget anticipates $30,846,438 in payroll tax revenue, which is up from $29,220,028 last year. Insurance license fees, Covington’s second largest revenue source, is anticipated to be $8,832,342, up from $8,261,496 last year.
As one of the largest cities in Northern Kentucky, property taxes are a crucial part of Covington’s budget. The City anticipates $8,802,777 in property tax revenue, up from $8,305,671 in 2021-2022.
Covington’s largest expenditures for 2022-2023 are the Police and Fire Department budgets.
All Other Funds
All Other Funds encompass over two dozen funds from variety of sources, including federal and state grants, old bond proceeds, trusts, and parking revenues.
This money is used for variety of projects such as housing assistance, vehicles and equipment, and streetscape projects.
Covington’s All Other Funds revenue is anticipated to be $98,357,873 while the fund’s expenditures are anticipated to be $92,581,994.
Individual Department budgets
Covington divides individual department budgets into two categories: personnel and non-personnel. Personnel goes toward paying department employees’ salaries and benefits.
Non-Personnel goes toward items in the budget unrelated to salaries or benefits. Non-Personnel items include travel costs, supplies, equipment, subcontracts, and other operating expenses.
City Manager budget
The City Manager’s budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the office will have $1,980,903, up from $1,749,193 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $1,308,545
2021-2022 Personnel: $1,166,778
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $672,358
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $582,415
 City Commissioners and Mayor budget
The City Commissioners and Mayor’s budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the office will have $374,403, up from $279,282 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $341,958
2021-2022 Personnel: $246,732
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $32,450
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $32,550
Human Resources Department budget
The Human Resource Department’s budget is anticipated to decrease from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the office will have $603,657, down from $629,990 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $484,584
2021-2022 Personnel: $508,841
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $119,073
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $121,149
Information and Technology budget
The IT Department’s budget is anticipated to decrease from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the office will have $649,892, down from $678,591 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $220,392
2021-2022 Personnel: $186,166
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $429,900
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $492,425
Legal Department budget
The Legal Department’s budget is anticipated to slightly decrease from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the office will have $678,129, down from $679,174 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $635,477
2021-2022 Personnel: $635,895
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $42,652
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $43,279
City Clerk budget
The City Clerk’s budget is anticipated to decrease from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the office will have an anticipated $177,853, down from $181,566 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $99,308
2021-2022 Personnel: $103,221
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $78,545
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $78,345
Neighborhood Services Department budget
The Neighborhood Service Department’s budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $551,075, up from $550,121 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $341,922
2021-2022 Personnel: $319,529
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $209,153
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $230,592
Code Enforcement budget
Code Enforcement’s budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $687,532, up from $537,959 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $497,495
2021-2022 Personnel: $445,909
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $190,037
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $92,050
Recreation Department budget
The Recreation Department’s budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $643,093, up from $598,581 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $326,115
2021-2022 Personnel: $331,106
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $316,978
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $267,475
Economic Development Department budget
Covington’s Economic Development Department’s budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $1,935,191, up from $1,318,001 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $913,416
2021-2022 Personnel: $832,091
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $1,039,775
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $485,910
Public Works Department budget
Covington’s Public Works Department budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $9,838,333 up from $9,475,643 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $5,956,554
2021-2022 Personnel: $5,847,143
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $3,881,779
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $3,628,500
Finance Department budget
Covington’s Finance Department budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $2,150,547, up from $2,074,490 last year.
2022-2023 Personnel: $1,514,067
2021-2022 Personnel: $1,519,880
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $636,480
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $554,610
Police Department budget
Covington’s Police Department budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $20,076,182, up from $18,048,382 last year.
The Police Department has the largest General Fund budget in the City of Covington.
2022-2023 Personnel: $18,804,941
2021-2022 Personnel: $16,858,869
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $1,271,251
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $1,819,513
Fire Department budget
Covington’s Fire Department budget is anticipated to increase from the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget.
This year the department will have an anticipated $18,806,675, up from $17,723,332 last year.
The Fire Department has the second largest General Fund budget in the City of Covington.
2022-2023 Personnel: $17,642,979
2021-2022 Personnel: $16,723,938
2022-2023 Non-Personnel: $1,163,696
2021-2022 Non-Personnel: $999,394
