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Owensboro manager proposes modest $76.5M general-fund budget; salaries drive increase
Summary
City Manager Nathaniel Pagan presented a $76.5 million general-fund budget for fiscal 2025–26 that forecasts a $3.1 million increase driven mainly by salaries and maintenance costs, with officials saying fund balances and conservative forecasting make the city resilient to near-term risks.
City Manager Nathaniel Pagan on Monday presented a proposed $76,519,298 general-fund budget for fiscal 2025–26 to the Owensboro City Commission, saying the plan is “largely a continuation of status quo” with most increases driven by personnel costs.
Pagan said the proposal follows the commission's directives to “prioritize public safety, prioritize infrastructure, economic development, and be conservative,” and highlighted the presentation would be delivered by department heads and managers who prepared detailed requests.
The proposed budget represents about a $3.1 million, or 4.2 percent, rise over the adopted current-year budget. City finance officials said roughly $2 million of that increase is for salaries and benefits, about $700,000 for maintenance and roughly $500,000 for outside services such as insurance and professional contracts.
Director of Finance and Support Services Angela Wanninger told commissioners the city manages more than 130 revenue accounts and is budgeting occupational withholding, property taxes, OMU dividend, insurance-premium license fee and net-profit taxes as the five largest sources. She presented the occupational withholding forecast at $24.9 million and property tax at roughly $10.9 million; she also noted state rules limit budgeted property-tax growth without referendum to 4 percent.
Assistant City Manager Leland Hancock summarized the city's long-range forecast, noting the city retains a healthy fund balance and uses a five-year rolling planning model. Hancock pointed out one-time items that affected the current-year amended budget'the midyear purchase of property on Veterans Boulevard and a contribution to OMU financed with prior ARPA funds'and warned those carry-forward items affected the year-over-year comparison.
The forecast shows modest operating surpluses in the near term under the plan, with projected deficits later in the five-year window if current assumptions persist. City staff stressed the projection is conservative and noted the state has recently set pension contribution rates lower than earlier estimates, which reduced projected pension costs for the coming year.
Officials said final adoption will come after public hearings and further commission review; no votes were taken during the presentation.
Court: The budget presentation included slides on revenues, capital projects and departmental operating requests and will return for formal consideration according to the city's published timetable.
