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Shively council approves modest package of tax and fee increases to shore up budget
Summary
Facing rising pension costs and lower revenues, the City of Shively council in March–June 2021 voted to raise several local levies and license fees, including insurance-license and occupational taxes and a small net-profit increase, to reduce reliance on one-time reserves.
Shively Mayor Beverly Chester-Burton convened a series of budget meetings this spring as council members sought revenue to cover rising pension contributions and the cost of municipal services. At meetings beginning March 15 and continuing through June, Council Member Wendell Vincent pressed for incremental increases and proposed a package that the council largely adopted by roll-call votes.
"Increasing taxes is not popular but proposing minimal tax increases... will share the burden of the rising cost of providing premium services to our residents," Vincent said during the March 15 discussion. Council recorded motions to raise the insurance license premium, to begin collecting a health-premium fee set at 1 percent, to increase the property-rate cap modestly (not more than 1.4 cents per $100 assessed in the motion), and to raise both the occupational tax and the net-profit tax by small amounts. Each motion was put to roll call and recorded in the minutes.
The council also discussed legal thresholds and procedural steps: by state law, property-rate increases above a defined threshold require public hearings; members emphasized they were proposing increases within the lower band that avoid an additional hearing requirement. Several council members urged caution. Council Member Sharon Baker urged delaying large structural changes until after further review, while Maria Johnson and others sought program protections for youth and community services in the coming budget.
Why it matters: the city carried forward several million dollars from prior years and used that reserve to balance earlier budgets. Council members said modest local rate adjustments were needed to avoid deep cuts to police, fire and core services. The new rates and fee-collection ordinances were introduced as first readings and, where required, advanced to subsequent readings for final adoption. The budget ordinance for fiscal year 2021–22 was later adopted following those steps.
What’s next: Council scheduled follow-up readings and an additional budget review window after adoption to allow adjustments based on updated revenue projections. The council recorded its vote totals in the minutes for transparency.
