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Owensboro votes to oppose proposed state takeover of occupational tax collection
Summary
The commission approved a municipal order opposing any legislation to centralize collection of local occupational taxes, citing concerns about lost audit capability, poor data transfer and harm to taxpayers who use in-person services.
The Owensboro City Board of Commissioners unanimously approved Municipal Order 1-2025 to register opposition to any legislation in the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly that would centralize collection of local occupational fees and taxes.
City Manager Nate Buckmeyer told the commission the occupational-license fee is the city’s largest revenue source — roughly one-third of the general fund — and said a bill filed in Frankfort would move collection responsibility to the state Treasury or a third party. “We collect that tax from our local taxpayers ourselves,” Buckmeyer said, and he described local collection as integrated with other city processes such as zoning checks at business licensing.
Finance Director Angela Wanninger laid out three categories of concern: past state rollouts for taxes that did not deliver promised detail, the risk to taxpayers who rely on in-person help at City Hall, and the potential loss of audit activity that has generated substantial additional revenue for the city. Wanninger said the telecommunications tax and omitted tangible tax historically have not produced the detailed remittance information the city needs, and she warned that centralization could reduce the ability of staff to reconcile payments and pursue unpaid taxes.
Wanninger noted that the city’s tax auditor, Dana Coombs, has identified nearly $1 million in additional taxes through audits so far this fiscal year. She said a centralized system that furnishes limited payment detail could make those audits — and the resulting revenue — harder to perform.
Buckmeyer also said the bill sponsor had described an electronic system that the sponsor asserted could be administered with only two state employees, a description Buckmeyer called “head-scratching.” Buckmeyer said the city and staff will forward information to the League of Cities and to local legislators to express the city’s concerns.
Commissioners moved and seconded the municipal order; the motion carried on a voice vote with no recorded opposition. The municipal order places Owensboro on record opposing any form of state-mandated centralized collection of local occupational taxes during the 2025 legislative session.
City staff suggested notifying contract administrators and local legislators of the city’s position as a next step.
