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A RESOLUTION urging the mayor of Louisville and the Metro Council to form a 1
task force that receives input from all stakeholders, including business and community 2
leaders, to provide any recommendations regarding the statutory framework of the 3
consolidated local government form. 4
WHEREAS, with lessons learned from previous attempts at consolidation, and after 5
a legislative task force meeting many times in Jefferson County, 2000 House Bill 647 was 6
passed which set forth the statutory framework for the consolidated local government 7
form of government and required a public question on whether or not to merge the city of 8
Louisville and Jefferson County to be placed before the voters of Jefferson County in 9
November 2000; and 10
WHEREAS, on November 5, 2000, the citizens of Jefferson County, the citizens of 11
the city of Louisville, and the citizens of the other incorporated cities of the county voted 12
to merge Louisville and Jefferson County into a consolidated local government; and 13
WHEREAS, on January 1, 2003, the merger of the city of Louisville and Jefferson 14
County officially took effect; and 15
WHEREAS, the merger of the city of Louisville and Jefferson County took the area 16
from being the 65th largest city in the United States to the 18th largest city; and 17
WHEREAS, the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County has been seen as a 18
significant contributor to attracting businesses to the area given the fact that Louisville 19
and Jefferson County were no longer in economic competition with each other, and the 20
fact that the merger allowed the area to speak with one voice and to have extra flexibility 21
in tailoring incentive packages to prospective employers; and 22
WHEREAS, 2022 House Bill 314 was introduced in this chamber on January 18, 23
2022, and, among other modifications to the statutory framework of Louisville Metro, 24
would allow the creation of new cities, which overturns the existing policy of KRS 25
67C.111 that was part of the original framework of the consolidated local government 26
plan voted upon by the electorate; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 2321
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WHEREAS, allowing new cities to be incorporated within the confines of the 1
Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government can potentially jeopardize population-2
based funding streams by reducing the population counted as being in the consolidated 3
local government area that is not already incorporated as a city; and 4
WHEREAS, funding streams such as the federal CARES Act and the American 5
Rescue Plan Act, which allowed Louisville Metro in its present configuration to garner 6
$134 million more than if Louisville and Jefferson County were still separate due to 7
applicable federal law population thresholds for various grant and allocation programs are 8
population based; and 9
WHEREAS, allowing new cities to be created could provide a reversal for recent 10
General Assembly efforts in reducing government, while potentially increasing the 11
bureaucratic overlays in the governance of Jefferson County, increasing the complexity of 12
governance and potentially reducing the attractiveness of the area for business siting; and 13
WHEREAS, creating new cities within the area of the metro government could 14
redirect millions in crucial existing revenues, primarily from the insurance premium tax 15
and Municipal Aid Program funding, away from emergency 911 services, public safety, 16
infrastructure maintenance, libraries, corrections, parks, and other services that are 17
provided by the metro government for all the citizens of the county; and 18
WHEREAS, the General Assembly has proposals relating to tax reform, and were 19
they to become law, the admixture of these proposals and those of the measures extant in 20
2022 House Bill 314, were it to become law as well, could lead to unintended tax 21
consequences that could negatively impact existing revenues of the metro government 22
and the services paid for by those revenues; 23
NOW, THEREFORE, 24
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the 25
Commonwealth of Kentucky: 26
Section 1. The House of Representatives recognizes the origin of the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 2321
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consolidated local government form as being set forth and available for the scrutiny of the 1
public before the public's subsequent ratification of the governmental form which led to 2
the modern iteration of the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government. Furthermore, 3
it recognizes that changing features and functions of that form of government which was 4
approved by the voters of Jefferson County without directly seeking input from those 5
voters may lead to suboptimal consequences particularly in terms of taxing efficiencies, 6
community life, and economic prosperity. 7
Section 2. The House of Representatives urges the mayor of the 8
Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and the Metro Council members in office 9
in January 2023, together with business and community leaders, and all other relevant 10
stakeholders, to form a county-wide task force that will examine the present state of the 11
merged government, identify any areas of improvement desired in that form of 12
government, and, after gaining input from the citizens and other stakeholders, provide any 13
recommendations for the General Assembly to consider in amending the statutory 14
framework of the consolidated local government form as it presently exists in Kentucky 15
law. 16