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Consolidated (Metro) Community Government Projects

August 5, 2013 By Luke Schmidt

Hardin County (KY) Unified Government Project

HCU logo_3

Introduction

Hardin County, KY is one of the largest counties in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with a population of nearly 110,000 people, and is the principal county in the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area.  Hardin County is the home of Fort Knox, one of the country’s largest Army posts.  The community has a thriving economy with nearly 75 manufacturing companies which employ thousands of workers.

HardinCountyGovernment LogoIn 2010, Hardin County Government, while preparing for massive growth brought about by base realignment (commonly referred to as BRAC) at Fort Knox, elected to conduct a community visioning process.  The Hardin County Visioning Project, sponsored by county government in partnership with the Lincoln Trail Area Development District and the United States Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment, included a strategic assessment of the community, an analysis of benchmark communities, an extensive survey of over 100 community leaders and resulted in the development of 24 strategic goals for the community to consider implementing over the next 15 years.

The overarching theme from the visioning process was one of unification, along with the elimination of duplicative services where they exist.

Hardin County United (HCU), created to develop implementation strategies for many of the goals, elected to pursue the issue of unified government and retained L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC to conduct detailed research on the issue of unified government.

Project Scope

Luke Schmidt worked closely with the chairperson of the HCU Governance Subcommittee, which oversaw the project.  As the project moved forward, the following milestones were achieved:

  • governmentConducted detailed analysis of the existing government structure in Hardin County (included county government and six incorporated cities)
  • Interviewed panels of impacted groups (e.g., law enforcement, fire protection, state elected officials, federal elected officials, Fort Knox, etc.)
  • Conducted site visits to communities which have previously unified their local governments (included Athens – Clarke County, GA; Augusta – Richmond County, GA; Columbus – Muscogee County, GA)
  • Facilitated presentation to HCU Governance Subcommittee by the last mayor of the City of Lexington (KY) and the first elected mayor of the Lexington – Fayette County Urban County Government
  • Facilitated presentation to HCU Governance Subcommittee by the last mayor of the City of Louisville (KY) and the first elected mayor of the Louisville – Jefferson County Metropolitan Government (Louisville Metro)
  • Researched the three existing Kentucky statutes which allow cities and counties to merge

Project Findings

In the end, a 200+ page report was presented to the HCU Governance Subcommittee.  The research illustrated a significant amount of duplication of government services among the existing Hardin County jurisdictions (94 units of government which govern a community of 110,000 people).  The report indicated that communities that have unified generally are able to provide government services more efficiently, are able to hold down the rising cost of providing government services and have a more unified approach to economic development which assists in creating new jobs.

HCU Unified Government BrochureIn particular, the report indicated that the following benefits would accrue to Hardin County if it were to unify all of its existing jurisdictions:

  • Attain a new level of clout as Kentucky’s third largest community
  • Speak with one voice and more efficiently target grants and appropriations in Frankfort and Washington, D.C.
  • Streamline government
  • Achieve economies of scale within local government

Path Forward

The HCU Governance Subcommittee and Steering Committee both agreed to move the issue forward in the community, by recommending that the community’s jurisdictions unify under the Unified Government statute.  The process started by significantly ramping up the HCU web site to include lots of information for the community’s citizens on unified government.

HCU also produced a collateral piece on the issue which was used as a leave-behind.  HCU’s Governance Subcommittee chairperson and Luke Schmidt gave 24 presentations in the community on the report, its findings and the potential benefits of unified government.  One issue which quickly developed concerned what would happen if one jurisdiction’s voters, when voting on a plan of unified government were to vote no on the issue, while the other jurisdictions’ voters all voted yes.  HCU agreed that the current statute was vague and pledged to clarify the issue.

KY CapitolLuke Schmidt worked with members of Hardin County’s delegation to the Kentucky General Assembly, along with representatives from the Kentucky League of Cities and introduced House Bill 190 (which eventually became House Bill 189).  House Bill 189 strengthened the existing statute and gave added protections to voters in the various jurisdictions which might consider a plan of unified government.  As HB 189 moved through the legislative process it never received a single negative vote either at the committee or floor level in both the Kentucky State House of Representatives and the Kentucky State Senate.  HB 189 was signed into law by Governor Steve Beshear.

The next step was to work to pass an ordinance in each jurisdiction which would create a Unification Review Commission.  The Commission, as outlined by Kentucky law, would create an actual plan of unified government which would ultimately be presented to the voters in each participating jurisdiction for review and approval.  Only the Commission can legally create such a plan and only the voters can approve it.  While there was significant interest in moving towards the Commission, the environment was not yet right to pass the ordinances.  Unifying local governments is a lengthy process which often results in negative votes/actions before ultimate, final success.  HCU is now evaluating its next step with regard to moving the issue forward.

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Filed Under: 2013, Consolidated (Metro) Community Government Projects, Projects

August 2, 2013 By Luke Schmidt

Hardin County (KY) United

Hardin County Logo 012611

 Introduction

Hardin County United (HCU) was formed following the conclusion of the Hardin County Vision Project in 2010.  HCU was formed by several community leaders that participated in the vision project and who wanted to continue with the process.  HCU was formed primarily to address each of the 24 strategic goals which were adopted in the visioning process, assign a priority to each goal and develop an implementation strategy for each of the goals selected for implementation.  L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC followed-up its involvement with the vision project by providing management and consulting services to HCU.

Organization Structure

HCU started with a Steering Committee comprised of around 60 people.  The organization was further organized with three subcommittees: Community Development, Education and Governance.

Catalyst for Change

Early on, Luke Schmidt worked with the HCU Steering Committee and developed a logo and a web site, so that the organization would have a central theme and also a portal for information on its projects to be made available to all citizens.

HCCC LogoSince its inception, HCU has served as an agent for change.  Following-up on the overall vision project theme of unification and the elimination of duplication in the community, HCU Community Development Subcommittee members supported the merger of four previously existing chambers of commerce (Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove and West Point) into one new unified chamber – the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce – now one of the five largest chambers in Kentucky.

Community Development Subcommittee members also supported change in the community’s alcoholic beverage laws.

YES Logo

Three petitions were filed in Elizabethtown, Radcliff and Vine Grove (the county’s three largest cities) for local option elections to be held on the same date.  Each campaign called for each community to go “wet,” meaning that individuals would gain the opportunity to purchase alcoholic beverages either by the package or by the drink.

HCU was one of the first organizations to endorse each campaign.

Each campaign was successful, thereby achieving one of the primary goals of the 24 strategic goals which were established during the Hardin County Vision Project.

The Education Subcommittee developed and implemented the first-ever mapping campaign of all educational offerings in the community

ECC Sign

The goal of this project was to identify every educational offering currently available to all residents in Hardin County.  The process started with pre-natal care classes for expectant parents, continued with early childcare development, Kindergarten, K – 8, high school and post-secondary offerings.

The report provided by the Education Subcommittee will be used by economic development professionals as part of their pitch to business and industrial prospects who are interested in expanding to the community.

Early College & Career CenterThe Education Subcommittee also embraced the idea of an Area Technology Center (one of the vision project’s 24 strategic goals).  Early in 2013, a partnership consisting of the Central Kentucky Community Foundation, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, Hardin County Schools and Western Kentucky University announced the development of the new Early College & Career Center, which will be located adjacent to the ECTC campus and open for business in 2014.

HCU’s Governance Subcommittee launched an initiative first designed to look into the potential benefits of unified government in Hardin County (again, following-up on the overall unification theme from the visioning process) with its Hardin County Unified Government Project.

HCU Unified Government Brochure

L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained to conduct extensive research into unified government.  This included site visits to communities that had previously unified, interviews with key groups, an analysis of existing local government structures in Hardin County, etc.

HCU presented the findings of the research project to the community with a series of 24 forums around the county.  HCU worked with Members of the Kentucky General Assembly to strengthen the existing statute on unified government in the Commonwealth.  HCU also started preliminary work with local elected officials to establish a Unification Review Commission for the purpose of drafting a plan for unified government to be presented to citizens for review and approval.

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Filed Under: 2013, Community Visioning Projects, Consolidated (Metro) Community Government Projects, Economic Development Projects, Projects, Stra Plan

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