[Strikeout King]

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) - House Bill 243, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Toby Herald, of Beattyville, would change Kentucky's political landscape in the most literal way.


The bill would consolidate 100 counties into 34. Larger counties, such as Fayette, Jefferson, Warren and Pike, would remain unchanged.


The counties could be renamed and local governments would consolidate.


A similar bill, HB 242 would also reduce the number of Kentucky's county and independent school districts. Boyd County would retain its own school district despite merging with Martin and Lawrence in HB 243.


http://www.lex18.com/story/37353131/new-...y-counties

[Strikeout King]

[Image: http://wlex.images.worldnow.com/images/1...&width=800]

[Strikeout King]

Hopefully this doesn't happen. This is stupid

[Hoot Gibson]

Kentucky has too many counties for a state its size but I am not convinced that money would be saved by consolidation. My guess is that politicians elected to office would vote themselves bigger salaries and justify the expense on the basis of more responsibility and managing larger budgets. I also don't believe that any analysis of the cost of new court houses and other infrastructure changes necessary to support larger country populations has been done.

But the main reason that I oppose consolidation of small counties into larger ones is that the motive for doing so is probably political. Whichever party has control of state government at the time of the mergers would undoubtedly draw the new county lines to provide as much control and as many jobs for their own party as possible.

As for consolidating school districts, this country is full of corrupt, incompetently governed large school districts. Large school districts create larger problems than smaller school districts.

[TheRealThing]

Hopefully this doesn't happen. This is stupid

Agreed, and I knew this was coming and have posted about it. But it's more than just stupid, it's the taxation wolf come to call dressed in a Boy Scout uniform.


EXCERPT OF KENTUCKY HB 243---

The fiscal court of the newly consolidated county shall
26 fix the rate of tax levy for each of the special taxing districts, and [COLOR="Red"]the property within each
27 shall be assessed and the taxes collected by the same county officers of the new county, [/COLOR]UNOFFICIAL COPY 18 RS BR 313
Page 5 of 7
BR031300.100 - 313 - XXXX Jacketed
1 and in the same manner that the law provides for the assessment of property and the
2 collection of taxes by counties. The money collected as taxes for each of the special
3 taxing districts shall be kept separate and shall be used only in payment of the debts of the
4 formerly unconsolidated county that embraced the territory of that specific taxing district.
END EXCERPT---

Notwithstanding the taxation ridiculousness of states like New Jersey or New York, Kentucky's tax code is already a heavy burden in it's own right. On average, the people of this state don't make a lot of money, and struggle mightily to pay their tax liabilities as things stand. Not exactly ringing the bell on individual household income, Kentucky ranks 42nd out of 50 on the national level. At the state level, Oldham County leads in yearly income per household at 87 thousand. Compare that to Boyd at 41 thousand, Lawrence at 36 and Martin at 28.

Property is taxed heavily in this state. For example I have a retired friend who still pays taxes on a 30 year old fishing boat. So far he has paid more in taxes on his old boat than the factory sticker price. Residents are taxed for everything here. And though seniors have certainly already sacrificed enough, and have raised their families the right way by working and being self sufficient, they STILL pay school taxes. Meanwhile renters, (the demographic with greatest number of school aged children) pay nada in school taxes, and very little in any other kind of tax.

The short of it is this, if one owns property in Kentucky, he is the well from which legislators just cannot drink deeply enough. Every time Frankfurt feels the pinch they bust property owners, never fails. Kentucky's problems with unfunded liabilities are grounded in fiscal stupidity, plush state pensions for everybody from teachers to government clerks to retired police. But the chocolate sundae will prove to have been the blind and reckless abandon in which Gov Steve Beshear charged ahead with the implementation of ObamaCare.

Truth be known, Kentucky is very likely teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. This restructuring of counties is a vast smoke screen intended to give cover in the form of disconnect and organized chaos for reassessing property values to get more tax dollars from already strapped property owners. Especially for the most vulnerable and undeserving of such deceit and extortion, the senior population who did it right in the first place. Added to that is this nightmare reality; these folks set up their retirements based on fiscal parameters that existed at the time of their retirement. Seniors didn't plan on funding the healthcare costs of those too good to follow their own example, of working to achieve self sufficiency.

Takers nonetheless, have no compunction on tapping them further for ever more free goodies, and the state legislature certainly shows no compunction in their continuing to enable these so-called poor in granting and expanding an already replete array of senior funded state handouts. All in the name of benevolence. But in raising taxes on seniors in order to provide those free goodies, legislators are effectively engaged in the seizure of private property which represents the life's work of defenseless though honorable senior Americans. Many of them veterans BTW. Where did all the bleeding heart felt benevolence go where seniors are concerned? People work their whole lives hoping to enjoy their golden years, a sometimes shaky health situation permitting. There is no way to overstate the depth of hypocrisy and immorality associated with this proposed devastation of the senior population through HB 243.

I hope the people of this state have the wherewithal to rise up against this one and force our legislators to do the belt tightening for a change, and stop with the tax increases. And speaking of runaway tax increases, is it not the epitome of ironies that the Kentucky 'Unbridled Spirit' logo features an unbridled horse at full gallop? HB 243 is 'Unbridled.'

[RunItUpTheGut]

100% will never happen.
Not in our lifetime or the next.

It's towns annexing that should be the talk. Counties will never change.

[TheRealThing]

100% will never happen.
Not in our lifetime or the next.

It's towns annexing that should be the talk. Counties will never change.

By whatever vehicle that Frankfurt should dream up, if property reevaluation is involved it will mean a big tax increase.