Another Louisville subdivision could seek Jeffersontown annexation
Residents of a subdivision in southeast Jefferson County are considering a proposal to be annexed by Jeffersontown, which would make their area the third locale to leave Louisville for a smaller city in less than a year.
Silver Oaks, which is located off Billtown Road by Charlie Vettiner Park and includes more than 200 residents, would join Jeffersontown if enough of its population, along with city councils of both the suburban municipality and Louisville approve.
Residents were instructed to return annexation petitions mailed by Mulloy Properties, which manages the subdivision, by Tuesday, according to the Silver Oaks Homeowners Association’s website that includes information on the annexation pitch.
If enough residents are in support, the HOA board would present the petition to the Jeffersontown City Council to formally request annexation. The process would eventually go to the Louisville Metro Council before returning to Jeffersontown for the final OK.
A few Metro Council members have opposed those prior annexation requests, noting in part that Louisville loses insurance premium tax and state road aid revenues from such moves.
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In September, Metro Council members approved St. Matthews annexing the Twinbrook subdivision, and last winter, the council also approved Jeffersontown's annexation of the Kirby Estates subdivision, with 119 homes and about 300 residents.
One of the annexation critics, Metro Councilman Brent Ackerson, D-26th District, previously said Louisville should seek to improve its operations "everywhere" if residents in one area feel they are not receiving adequate services and that the city's financial situation may face "a reckoning" if more tax dollars are lost via annexations.
An official fiscal estimate of a Silver Oaks move on Louisville's revenue is not yet available, but Jeffersontown's annexation of Kirby Estates was expected to cost Louisville over $28,000 annually in insurance premium taxes and state municipal road aid revenue, per the Office of Management and Budget.
The Silver Oaks HOA board has not responded to Courier Journal emails seeking comment.
Angela Webster, legislative assistant to Metro Councilman Stuart Benson, R-20th, whose district includes Silver Oaks, told The Courier Journal “we (Benson's office) fully support their efforts to be annexed if that is what the majority of the neighborhood decide they would like to occur.”
The HOA’s website says residents would lose nothing via the annexation and gain access to Jeffersontown parks along with “improved Police and EMS response times,” “house watch” and a smaller "hometown.”
The subdivision would fall under Jeffersontown’s police, EMS, garbage pickup and snow removal services, with Jeffersontown property taxes added to annual tax bills.
The association would continue to be run by a volunteer board, and homeowners would be members of the association, the Silver Oaks Homeowners Association’s website says. “Like other HOAs in Jeffersontown, such as Monticello Place, Saratoga Woods, and others, we would continue to be responsible for our association owned property (common areas), DCCR (declaration, covenant, conditions and restrictions) enforcement, and neighbor representation.”
“Silver Oaks is currently part of LMPD's 7th Division. It is the largest by geographic size in all of Louisville,” the HOA site says. “While we don't have as serious of crimes of other divisions, it is generally accepted that under Jeffersontown Police, response times, patrol frequency, and directed patrols would improve. Many officers who live in the neighborhood support the move to Jeffersontown.”
The HOA site also adds it currently uses a private trash service and is responsible for snow removal, estimating that $7,000 to $20,000 is spent on road treatment each year depending on “the number of storms.”
“If we joined Jeffersontown, this responsibility would transition to public works, and be included in your property taxes,” the Silver Oaks HOA website says. “It is expected this would reduce the HOA fees.”
The HOA estimates that, based on a $275,000 home taxed at 14 cents per $100 of assessed value, annexation could result in $385.28 in new Jeffersontown taxes for a resident, with homeowner expenses going from the current $456 to $545.28. (Jeffersontown's current property tax rate is actually a little over 13 cents per $100 of assessed value, per the city's website.)
Silver Oaks residents actually began mulling the idea of annexation in 2016, and a volunteer group today includes nine members representing “a cross-section of our neighborhood (new, old, for, against),” the HOA’s website notes.
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Earlier this year, Kentucky's Republican-controlled General Assembly achieved a long-sought aim to shake up the 2003 Louisville-Jefferson County merger and open the door for more annexations in the city by passing House Bill 314 over Gov. Andy Beshear's veto.
Once the law takes effect in 2024, new annexations or new cities with at least 6,000 residents within Louisville Metro, but outside the Urban Service District, can form if at least 66% of voters in the qualified area sign a petition. HB 314 also limits the Louisville mayor to two four-year terms instead of three terms, with that provision taking effect in 2023.
Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Silver Oaks subdivision mulls Jeffersontown annexation
