FRANKFORT, Ky. — A bill that passed a House committee Wednesday would allow areas of Jefferson County of 6,000 people or more to incorporate and establish a new city.

What You Need To Know

  • House Bill 314 would allow areas of Jefferson County to become new cities under certain conditions

  • Bill sponsor Rep. Jason Nemes (R, Louisville) said people living in areas like Fern Creek, Fairdale and Okolona should have the right to form new cities if they choose

  • Three members of Louisville Metro Council spoke against the bill, citing concerns including impacts to revenue

  • The bill passed a House committee Wednesday and moves next to the full House 

Under the legislation, a petition would have to be signed by 75% or more of the qualified voters in the proposed area. 

Nearly 20 years ago, the former city of Louisville and Jefferson County governments merged. 

Bonnie Jung, who serves as the mayor of Douglass Hills and board president of the Jefferson County League of Cities, spoke Wednesday to support the bill. 

“We’ve had two decades to see how merger has evolved,” she told lawmakers. “It’s been very beneficial in many ways, but unfortunately, disappointing for many residents of the unincorporated Jefferson County area.”

Jung said many feel ignored because the amount of property taxes they pay don’t reflect the services that they receive.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jason Nemes (R, Louisville) said people living in areas like Fern Creek, Fairdale, Okolona and others deserve the right to form new cities.   

“If 75% of the people want a city because they’re not getting the services that they are already taxed for and they’ll continue to be taxed for, then we ought to let them have a city, just like we do in Middletown and in (Jeffersontown),” Nemes said. 

Three members of Louisville Metro Council spoke against the bill, saying Louisville relies on that revenue, including insurance premium taxes paid by people in unincorporated areas. 

“Our budget for those taxes this year is right at $70 million,” said Councilman Bill Hollander (D-9) “Allowing new cities to be created reduces that revenue stream to Louisville Metro and threatens our ability to provide important county-wide services.”  

Metro Council President David James (D-6) told the committee that the current merged local government wasn’t perfect.

“We’d like to make it perfect,” he said. “The way I think that we do that is by working together to create a document that everybody can get behind to make our city better.”

The bill moves next to a vote in the full House.