Salary bump for mayor? More city commissioners? How a city is changing its government

COVINGTON, KY. – The mayor of Covington will likely have a lot more power by 2029 – and a higher paycheck. 

Those changes are among several that city commissioners will consider in the coming weeks as local committee members reconfigure how government and day-to-day operations in Northern Kentucky’s largest city should run.

For the first time in about a century, the city is moving away from a city manager-run form of government to what’s known as a strong mayor system. It’s part of an overhaul voters approved last fall. The changes will go into effect in 2029.

Here’s what you need to know about the government changes:

Why is the Covington government changing?

About 61% of voters cast a ballot in favor of the changes that include a strong mayor system.

That style of government gives the mayor direct authority over city departments, staff and the general day-to-day running of the city.

It also eliminates the position of city manager, who has traditionally had those responsibilities and acted as a buffer between elected officials and city staff.

The Committee on Form of Government Transition was created after the election to hash out the changes. Roughly 30 to 40 people applied to be on the committee. Nine voting members and seven non-voting members were selected from that pool.

Since January, the committee has met three times a month, conducted surveys, hosted two in-person forums, and solicited online and mail-in feedback about the process. 

What will change?

Last week, Committee Administrator Sebastian Torres presented the group’s first recommendations to Covington city commissioners at a caucus meeting. They include:

• A 185% increase in the mayor’s salary from $33,395.58 annually to a maximum of $95,335.76.
• A 33% pay decrease for city commissioners from $26,680.73 annually to a maximum of $17,787.15.
• Six city commissioners instead of four.

Torres told The Enquirer the proposed pay rates were primarily based on two factors: comparative data from other Kentucky cities and the expected workload change for elected officials.

“Currently, the mayor is working 50-plus hours a week,” he said. “If we’re going to encourage anyone, who’s frankly not retired … to run for this position … the position is going to need to have a (market rate) full-time salary attached to it.”

A higher salary will be necessary when the city no longer has a city manager and the mayor takes on additional duties, Torres said.

Other similarly sized cities in Kentucky, like Florence and Georgetown, pay their mayors salaries in the same range, according to data collected by the committee.

Meanwhile, Torres said, the workload for commissioners will decrease because they will no longer have to vote on issues like employment contracts.

The committee is recommending a larger county commission based on the data, surveys of residents and in-person comments, Torres said. He provided copies of the surveys which reflect that preference.

What’s next?

In the coming weeks, commissioners could approve, deny, or ask for changes to the committee’s recommendations.

They’ll do that for the first time at the city council meeting at 6 p.m. May 13 at city hall.

If commissioners approve the recommendations as-is, they’ll consider them again in a second reading, which could happen as soon as May 27.

Meanwhile, the committee will keep working on other government change details.

“Now we’re going to turn our attention to the city government structure, how we do things, and look for opportunities to kind of reshape how the government is, in itself, a body, (and) how we get our work done,” Torres said.

Committee meetings are open to the public and include a public comment period. The committee meets at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at city hall, with more information on the Covington city website.