How Covington is run
Who runs Covington, 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 Covington's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Covington
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day. The council sets policy, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
Covington city staff
367 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 123, Fire/EMS 114, General government 65, Public works 60, Parks and recreation 5. FY2025. Full-time equivalent employees on June 30, 2025, down from 397 a year earlier. City of Covington · Feb 18, 2026
The budget book lists positions by department but not individual pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Covington 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
Unassigned general fund balance: $23.2M (2025-06-30). City of Covington · Feb 18, 2026
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 FY2025-26.
Comes from
- Payroll taxes$29.3M · 40%
- Insurance license fee$13.1M · 18%
- Property taxes$9.4M · 13%
- Transfers from other funds$8.3M · 11%
- Net profit tax$5.8M · 8%
- Licenses, permits, penalty and interest$3.7M · 5%
- Franchise fees$2.4M · 3%
- Other (state and federal aid, all other)$2.1M · 3%
Goes to (FY2025-26)
- Police$21.4M · 29%
- Fire$21.4M · 29%
- Public works$10.2M · 14%
- Transfers to other funds$5.2M · 7%
- Debt service$4.1M · 6%
- Administration$3.9M · 5%
- Finance$2.7M · 4%
- Other (neighborhood services, economic development, legal, legacy pensions)$4.5M · 6%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a Covington homeowner in the city school district pays, about 17 cents goes to the city and about 57 cents to the schools. Parts of the city are in the Kenton County School District, where the total rate is $1.325.
17¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Covington
- Covington Independent School District0.951 · 57%
- City of Covington0.2877 · 17%
- Other districts0.1993 · 12%
- Kenton County0.115 · 7%
- State of Kentucky0.106 · 6%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)1.659
FY2025 property tax rates for a home in the Covington Independent School District. City of Covington · Feb 18, 2026
See what a Covington house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Covington is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityCovington Police DepartmentOver 100 officersCity of Covington
- FireThe cityCovington Fire DepartmentFive fire stationsCity of Covington
- EMS (ambulance)The cityCovington Fire DepartmentFive advanced life support ambulancesCity of Covington
- Trash and recyclingContractorRumpke Waste & RecyclingCity of Covington
- SewerSeparate districtSanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky (SD1)City of Covington
- Storm waterThe cityCity of Covington Public WorksCity took over the MS4 program on March 1, 2021City of Covington
- StreetsThe cityCovington Public Works DepartmentCity of Covington
- ParksThe cityCovington Public Works DepartmentCity of Covington
- Planning, zoning and code enforcementThe cityCity of CovingtonCity of Covington · Feb 18, 2026
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 | ElizabethtownKY | RichmondKY | GeorgetownKY | CovingtonKY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 35,448 | 40,663 | 40,883 | 41,847 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $14,837 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $2,104 | $1,105 | $1,396 | $1,755 |
| Debt per resident | $2,600 | $2,834 | $2,220 | $2,484 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,389 | $1,269 | $1,112 | $2,315 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | — | 5.7 | 8.8 |
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 Covington 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 onlineMinutes record approval of the City Manager Employment Agreement on July 15, 2025, but we found no posted copy. City of Covington · Jul 15, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlinePosted minutes list each commissioner's yea or nay on every roll call vote. City of Covington · Jul 15, 2025
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document LINK nky · May 28, 2025
- No: Employee pay publishedThe budget book lists positions by department and department payroll totals, but not pay by job or person. City of Covington · Jun 1, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- The city's share of the CERS hazardous (police and fire) pension shortfall is $72.9 million, and that plan was 57.1% funded. How does the budget plan for rising pension costs?
- Covington moves to a mayor-council form with a six-member council on January 1, 2027. How will the city manager's job and the budget process change?
The fiscal year starts July 1. Before June 1 the City Manager gives the Board of Commissioners a proposed budget. A public meeting takes comments, and the Board adopts the budget by ordinance before June 30. The FY2026-27 budget had its first reading June 9, 2026 and passed June 23, 2026. See who is running for council
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