How Independence is run
Who runs Independence, 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 Independence's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Independence
A city manager appointed by the council directs the city's departments. The council, an elected mayor and six councilors, adopts laws, sets policies, adopts the budget and levies taxes.
What they are paid
Independence city staff
The budget posts a salary schedule by job class. It does not list the City Manager's pay, and we found no list of pay by employee. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Independence 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.
The city's own outlook
The city's 2025 fiscal recovery report says general fund costs have risen as much as 7-9% a year while revenues grew about 5%, and that if nothing changes the general fund would run out of money in FY2028-29. The FY2026-27 budget keeps the Public Safety Fee, cut from $17 to $10 a month, and proposes new Community Services and Parks fees. City of Independence · Dec 1, 2025
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $5.2M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: The city's 2025 fiscal recovery report says it needs to keep about $1.8 million in reserves to cover operations until property tax payments arrive in November. It says the general fund remains about $1 million below its target reserve or contingency level. City of Independence · Feb 25, 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 FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Taxes$3M · 30%
- Beginning balance carried in$2.4M · 24%
- Miscellaneous and other$1.5M · 15%
- Licenses, fees and permits$1.4M · 14%
- Transfers in$662,004 · 7%
- Intergovernmental$480,000 · 5%
- Charges for services$439,050 · 4%
- Other (fines and forfeitures)$87,500 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$4.5M · 45%
- Non-departmental (debt, transfers, contingency)$1.9M · 19%
- Community Services (library and museum)$893,350 · 9%
- Parks$514,280 · 5%
- Administration$401,750 · 4%
- Building inspection$363,545 · 4%
- Community development$357,300 · 4%
- Other (IT, finance, HR, janitorial, economic development, court)$1M · 10%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Independence is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityIndependence Police DepartmentCity of Independence
- WaterThe cityCity of Independence Public WorksCity of Independence
- SewerThe cityCity of Independence Public WorksCity of Independence
- StormwaterThe cityCity of Independence Public WorksCity of Independence
- StreetsThe cityCity of Independence Public WorksCity of Independence
- ParksThe cityCity of Independence Public WorksCity of Independence
- Library and museumThe cityCity of Independence Community Services DepartmentCity of Independence
- Broadband internetAnother agencyMINET (Monmouth/Independence Network)Run under an intergovernmental agreement between the cities of Monmouth and Independence.City of Independence
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 | Lincoln CityOR | IndependenceOR | Sweet HomeOR | NewportOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 10,117 | 10,195 | 10,308 | 10,383 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $154,510 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $170,000 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $3,600 |
| General fund per resident | $2,469 | $978 | $760 | $2,315 |
| Debt per resident | $1,434 | $3,236 | $1,001 | $4,099 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,551 | $704 | $216 | $710 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 16.1 | — | 6.5 | 16.6 |
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). Sweet Home pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Independence publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted online City of Independence
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe council approved a contract with Kenna West in May 2022. We did not find the contract online. City of Independence
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no document stating council or mayor pay. The budget lists $13,500 for Mayor and Council expenses. City of Independence
Questions to ask your council
- The general fund spent $594,000 more than it took in during FY2024-25, and its balance fell $381,000. Will the new Community Services and Parks fees close that gap?
- The city's recovery report says the general fund would run out of money in FY2028-29 if nothing changes. What does the city's forecast show now?
- The audited unassigned general fund balance was $5.17 million on June 30, 2025, yet the recovery report says the general fund is about $1 million below its reserve target. How much of that balance is cash the city can use?
- Police make up $4.5 million of the $10.0 million general fund budget for FY2026-27. How will the Public Safety Fee cut from $17 to $10 a month affect police funding?
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