HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Lower than average incoming revenue for the City of Hopkinsville may inform how the entire budget is shaped in the future. Looking ahead to the 2026-27 fiscal year that starts in July, Hopkinsville Mayor James R. Knight warns that the city can anticipate a tighter budget.
“We are crunching the numbers pretty tight this time around,” said Knight during the April 21 Hopkinsville City Council meeting. “Things have come in short all year long, so we will be watching the budget very closely as we move forward,”
March financial report shows reflects consistently low revenue
City CFO Melissa Clayton gave a financial report for March to the council, saying at the start of her presentation, “I’d say it’s my pleasure to bring you guys the monthly financial report, but it hasn’t been all year, so things aren’t changing tonight.”
She shared that payroll tax continues to be down, with the city currently operating 2.9% under budget for this source of revenue. $17,426,420 was budgeted to be collected by March, with only $16,579,479 actually coming in. Clayton also reported that revenue from insurance premium tax is also under budget, at a decrease of 2.2%.
The largest noticeable struggle the city is facing when it comes to revenue is in regard to business licenses. The city currently has a 17% decrease in this revenue source, having only collected 32% of the funds budgeted nine months into the fiscal year.
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City departments agree to certain cuts, overall look at budget
Despite these setbacks, Clayton disclosed that the city is still operating with a positive budget overall. She reports that for March the city has $493,548 in revenue over expenses compared to just over $1.3 million this time last year.
“I want to give props to all of our department heads because we have asked them to cut back and they are, and that’s the only reason we have more revenue than we have expenses,” she said, adding that everyone is doing their part to save money for the city.
City of Hopkinsville’s Public Information Director Amanda Brunt told Christian County Now that the city has not implemented any cuts to staff positions, salaries, or employee hours as a result of the current revenue challenges. Instead, they have been asked to take a more cautious approach to spending such as holding nonessential purchases, delaying discretionary projects and carefully evaluating extra expenses.
Occupational license tax ordinance adjusted again
Along with the talks of decreasing revenue, the city council unanimously approved an amendment to the ordinance that would impact occupational license tax fees for businesses which could also impact revenue.
Coming from recommendations from the Small Business Commission, businesses will have to pay 1.3% of their net profits to the city up to $100 dollars. Before this was approved, businesses would have to pay up to $250. It is additionally defined that all businesses pay a minimum $25 processing fee.
The long-discussed topic of this tax, also known as the net profit tax rate, has continually split the city council, with back-and-forth talks extending over months in 2025. The council voted to lower the rate from the previous 1.5% in November 2025 to provide a small cut for businesses who saw a dramatic increase in payment when the cap was previously removed on the tax.
This rate was decided after input from a committee that was formed to find a solution to outweigh the additional cost. In turn, the lower rate costs the city around $200,000 in potential revenue.
All in all, so far this fiscal year the city has spent 69% of what’s been budgeted for the General Fund with over $18 million still in the bank as available cash. Clayton clarified that the city’s funds are starting to level out and they are not actively trending down.
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