UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HCR 126/GA
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A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the mayor of the Louisville/Jefferson 1
County Metro Government and the Metro Council to form a task force that receives input 2
from all stakeholders, including business and community leaders, to provide any 3
recommendations regarding the statutory framework of the consolidated local 4
government form. 5
WHEREAS, with lessons learned from previous attempts at consolidation, and after 6
a legislative task force meeting many times in Jefferson County, House Bill 647 was 7
passed during the 2000 Regular Session which set forth the statutory framework for the 8
consolidated local government form of government and required a public question on 9
whether or not to merge the city of Louisville and Jefferson County to be placed before 10
the voters of Jefferson County in November 2000; and 11
WHEREAS, on November 5, 2000, the citizens of Jefferson County, the citizens of 12
the city of Louisville, and the citizens of the other incorporated cities of the county voted 13
to merge Louisville and Jefferson County into a consolidated local government; and 14
WHEREAS, on January 1, 2003, the merger of the city of Louisville and Jefferson 15
County officially took effect; and 16
WHEREAS, the merger of the city of Louisville and Jefferson County took the area 17
from being the 65th-largest city in the United States to being the 18th-largest city in the 18
United States; and 19
WHEREAS, the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County has been seen as a 20
significant contributor to attracting businesses to the area given the fact that Louisville 21
and Jefferson County were no longer in economic competition with each other, and the 22
fact that the merger allowed the area to speak with one voice and to have extra flexibility 23
in tailoring incentive packages to prospective employers; and 24
WHEREAS, groups of residents within the unincorporated areas of Jefferson 25
County have expressed desires for increased services, and debate has ensued over how to 26
best deliver these desired services; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HCR 126/GA
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WHEREAS, some stakeholders advocate for the annexation of territory by existing 1
cities or the creation of new cities within the boundaries of the Louisville/Jefferson 2
County Metro Government to provide the desired services; and 3
WHEREAS, some stakeholders advocate for the process of petitioning for and 4
establishing service districts which would provide the desired services; and 5
WHEREAS, the many variables arising from legislative proposals that may be 6
unique to this particular legislative session, including those relating to modernizing 7
taxation, combined with the potential of allowing new governments to be created within 8
Jefferson County, raise fears that unintended tax consequences could occur that could 9
negatively impact the existing revenues of the metro government and the services paid for 10
by those revenues; 11
NOW, THEREFORE, 12
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the 13
Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Senate concurring therein: 14
Section 1. The House of Representatives and the Senate recognize that the 15
present distribution of governments and government services within Jefferson County has 16
been relatively unchanged for the two decades of the existence of the Louisville/Jefferson 17
County Metro Government, and furthermore wish to avoid any suboptimal consequences, 18
particularly in terms of taxing efficiencies, community life, and economic prosperity, that 19
could arise from fundamental changes to the present governmental distribution in 20
Jefferson County without comprehensive local deliberations. 21
Section 2. The House of Representatives and the Senate urge the mayor of the 22
Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and the Metro Council members in office 23
in January 2023, together with business and community leaders, state Senators and 24
Representatives serving areas within Jefferson County, representatives of areas that are 25
not municipal corporations within Jefferson County, and all other relevant stakeholders, 26
to form a county-wide task force that will examine the present state of the merged 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HCR 126/GA
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government, identify any areas of improvement desired in that form of government, and, 1
after gaining input from the citizens and other stakeholders, provide by November 15, 2
2023, any recommendations for the General Assembly to consider in amending the 3
statutory framework of the consolidated local government form as it presently exists in 4
Kentucky law. 5