LETTER: Resident sees ‘considerable amount of opposition’ to Brownsboro incorporation

To the editor:

There seems to be a totally one-sided discussion on the incorporation of a huge area to be called the Village of Brownsboro. Your readers need to know that there is a considerable amount of opposition to creating this sixth class city.

Many of us have lived in this community most of our lives, and don’t believe incorporation serves the good of the community. 

To incorporate a city, it must provide services to the people. The incorporation petition states the city will provide or enhance the following services: snow removal, road maintenance, public recreation activities, police protection and trash collection. 

Then, directly below this statement, the petition states the following services presently exist within the proposed territory: road maintenance (which includes snow removal), police protection and fire protection. So what can they provide but more taxes and another layer of unwanted and unneeded government? 

The article that appeared in the June 20 edition of the Courier-Journal Neighborhoods section states that for 9 cents per $100 of assessed real property taxes a city of 448 residents can provide all the above services for an area of 8300 plus acres – bigger than La Grange, Crestwood and Pewee Valley combined. 

We, the small property owners, can’t afford this tax burden during these economic times and we don’t want to pay for a redundant tax for services the county already provides.

The wealthy landowners in the area are against any changes in the community. Their idea of a city is they control everything. Nothing will take place once the city is formed. They will decide what is good and bad. 

We don’t need a wealthy few deciding what is best for the long time residents of our community. Some want to change something that has worked well for so many years.

Also, in the same section of Wednesday’s paper was a letter to the editor from Louise Allen, of Oldham Ahead, who works for the wealthy landowners. 

The truth is that they may have had meetings, but the immediate property owners and neighbors who have lived here all of their lives were not invited to their meetings, nor were we included on any informational emails, and were not notified by letter or phone calls. 

The only notice regarding formation of a city was a small legal notice in the legal notice area of the Oldham Era. We thank the Oldham Era for the notice. 

Those that want this done handled it strategically to catch the grassroots people who were in opposition off guard. To believe otherwise is an insult to our intelligence. If done the proper way, all people should be notified and then let it come to a ballot vote. Up or down, that gives us our right to a fair choice.

In other words, we already have the services provided by the county. All we’re going to get is another tax bill for services we already have. 

Our quiet little community isn’t broken and doesn’t need fixing by a wealthy few.

Judy Crask

Crestwood