LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Oldham Reserves is a mixed-use development that sits on a 1,000-acre campus in La Grange, Kentucky. 

As of Friday, Dec. 16, it’s home to the Rawlings Group and the newest addition, Trilogy Health Services, providing care and compassion for senior living. It’s an investment the city has been paying off since they broke ground.

“What happened was we had a downturn of the economy. No land was selling. This type of issue was going on at the time, so the debt on this whole Oldham Reserve was divided equally between the city and the county to help them carry the debt load of approximately $10 million,” City of La Grange Mayor John Black said.

The City of La Grange was then having to find ways to pay off that debt for Oldham Reserve. 

“In the year 13 when I was mayor, the first thing we put forward was an occupational tax, which is different — a lot different — from the tax that we passed two months later,” La Grange City Council Member Bill Lammlein said. “The one we put forward the occupational tax did not pass. Why didn’t it pass? Because the business owners would have to pay the tax also.”

The tax, former mayor and now city council member Bill Lammlein is referring to is the compensation tax that was passed Aug. 5, 2013. The tax requires anyone who works within the city limits of La Grange to pay a 1% tax on wages.

“We finance this through the compensation tax to give these adjoining lots here some chance of being able to be developed in the future, had this road not come about when it did, there would be no way for a company to even think about locating here,” Black said.

By a vote of 5 to 3 on Monday, Dec. 5, the City of La Grange passed an amendment that will continue what some call a “controversial” compensation tax and made it permanent.

“This time when it came back on the agenda, I’ve been against it the entire time, I think since it was already passed and the promise was made to the citizens,” Jason Taylor, La Grange city council member, said. “At that point, my position was that on Monday night it needs to dissolve. When that debt is paid, it needs to go away like the promise was made.”

That promise, the one city council member Jason Taylor is referring to, was brought up during the July 2013 city council meeting.

“I don’t know why people are having such a hard time understanding that the quicker we get this paid off, the quicker that 1% is going to go away,” Lammlein said. “Are people saying that we’re lying?”

Again, that promise residents refer to was mentioned in the Aug. 5, 2013 meeting during the reading of the ordinance that states, “This Ordinance shall cease to be effective, and all of the provisions herein will no longer be imposed (except for the city’s rights with respect to audit, and/or with respect to collection of unpaid taxes, interest, penalties, court costs, postage expenses, and reasonable attorney(s) and or paralegal(s) fees, as outlined in Section 13), after the debt related to the Oldham Reserve Property is paid in full.”

That debt, Black said, will soon cease to exist.

“This month the debt is going to be free and clear,” Mayor John Black said. “The remaining debt on the $10 million is approximately $191,000 and I will be sending the fiscal agent that’s been overseeing this bond issue for all these years. I will be writing him a check in a few days.”

Citizens spoke in favor of and against the tax, including a woman who she says represents the single-income family saying she can’t afford the tax.

“Don’t blame it on your government, OK. Blame it on the people who you work for that you’re not making enough money,” Lammlein said.

Former La Grange resident Robin Vessels spoke out against the tax in 2013 and again at the most recent meeting.

Vessels had been paying the tax since it was enacted in 2013 until she moved in 2020.

“I feel like we were lied to, and that’s why I had to speak up against it,” Vessels said. “Single parents that face this dilemma every day, it’s difficult for them to change jobs.”

Black hopes to eventually meet the needs of those in a single income household with the future of the business park.

“Create some manufacturing jobs, some logistics jobs with companies and if they are making minimum wage or somewhere (about), hopefully they can eventually jump on a bus and come form the place they live in the city and get a job that hopefully pays ten more bucks an hour,” Black said.

Although it’s been nearly 10 years since the 1% tax on wages was passed in 2013, and the debt is ending, Lammlein said plans have changed.

“But the problem is that we still don’t have the infrastructure in that park that we need. There’s $10 million worth of sewers that still need to go into that park,” Lammlein said.

The ordinance amending the compensation tax now expands how the city can use the funds from the tax money such as public works, and capital projects to repair, maintain and improve streets, sidewalks, traffic, parking, drainage, internet access, and other public facilities; for parks and recreation to promote health, safety and welfare of the citizens; and for protecting people and property.

“Making this tax permanent and not keeping the promise that was made to the people, the workers in the city,” Taylor said. “Many of which live in La Grange and even if they don’t, they come into our town to work. I care about the people not just living in La Grange, but also working in La Grange. I think it’s very important that we don’t over-tax these folks.”

The mayor hopes the city eventually sees the bigger picture.

“One day and someday the people will say we now see what this was all intended to do was to build a first class, world class business park right here in La Grange and Oldham County, and I hope people will be so proud of it,” Black said.

Black told Spectrum News 1, 20% of all tax revenue generated from the Oldham Reserve business park will stay within the park.