Facing a $65 million-dollar budget gap over the next four years due to increased pension payments, Metro Council President David James, along with Caucus Chair Pat Mulvihill, Budget Chair Bill Hollander, and Budget members Barbara Sexton Smith and Markus Winkler are sponsoring an ordinance to increase the city’s tax rates on home, life, marine and miscellaneous insurances.

These rates would increase from their current five percent to 12.5 percent in Fiscal Years (FY) 2020 and 2021, 13.5 percent in 2022, and 15 percent in 2023.

Auto insurance would be excluded from this increase, which overall generates approximately $63 million by Fiscal Year 2023.

I serve on the budget committee but did not join in co-sponsoring this ordinance. Instead, I am committed to exploring all options for meeting the city’s budget needs—through belt tightening or revenue increases, or a combination of the two. Toward that end, I hope you will plan to attend our District 7 Budget Talk Saturday, February 23 from 10 until noon at the St. Matthews Community Center, 310 Ten Pin Lane. This will be an opportunity for constituents to ask questions and express their opinions on the Louisville Metro budget.

Joining me for this panel discussion will be:

• Bill Hollander, Chairman, Metro Council Budget Committee           
• Daniel Frockt, Chief Financial Officer, Mayor’s Office
• Becky Peak, Mayor, City of Plantation and Board Member, Jefferson County League of Cities

I hope you come. You may also call our office at 574-1107 or email me here.

At the Metro Council’s 17^th Annual Black History Month Program on February 21, District 7’s Natalie Thomas was among those honored for her tremendous community engagement.

Natalie received a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Kentucky University. As an EKU student, she helped to charter the Zeta Nu Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., paving the way for other young college women on EKU’s campus to participate in the organization. Her involvement in the sorority did not stop when she graduated.

As a dedicated 10-year member of the graduate chapter, Eta Omega, of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Natalie has personified the motto of the sorority, “Supreme in Service to All Mankind.” She has earned three coveted awards for her volunteer service: Soror of the Year, Soror Through the Year, and Outstanding Sisterly Relations.

Natalie is a dynamic, vibrant, and active person who is involved in trying to make our community a better and brighter place; she is a willing and tireless volunteer. She has worked with the Adopt-A-Highway program, ensuring that she does her part to keep our city streets clean. She participates in the beautification of park playgrounds, laying mulch and staining benches. She has worked with city outreach programs such as the Lord’s Kitchen, the Franciscan Kitchen, and Wayside Christian Mission. From mopping floors to serving and assisting the homeless with meals, Natalie loves to serve others. She has helped prepare meals for families at the Ronald McDonald House and was involved and responsible for providing food and serving high school students of JCPS who attended an after-school educational enrichment program; she also volunteered at the Franciscan Assisted Living facility to help with crafts and play bingo with the resident senior citizens. Natalie continues to volunteer and is currently participating in JCPS’s Blessings in a Backpack program.

One of Natalie’s daughters is a 2008 graduate of Mercy Academy, yet Natalie is still active every year in the Academy’s largest fundraiser. She can be found going throughout the community asking for donations to benefit the tuition assistance program that allows students from varied socioeconomic backgrounds to attend the school.

Natalie is the wife of Will Thomas, and the mother of two daughters, Detric and Hope. She retired from Ford Motor Company in 2004, after 30 years of service in quality control.

Natalie’s service, dedication, and commitment to others and her community exemplifies compassion, fortitude, and the desire to make a difference.

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the U.S. In this one-woman show, Bellarmine Theatre Program Director Megan Burnett brings to life Martha “Mattie” Griffith Browne, a Kentucky abolitionist and suffragist, who fought to make women’s voting rights possible, but whose name has largely been forgotten.

Scheduled at the Main Library on Tuesday, February 26 at
6:30 p.m., the program is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

It’s cold outside – the wind is bone-chilling, the sun is nowhere to be found and you might have just seen a few snowflakes floating in the air. You need something to warm you up, and a cup of coffee should do the trick. By filling up your coffee maker with hot water from the tap, you hope the coffee will get to your cup a little faster. Surprisingly, that might be doing you more harm than good.

Louisville Water produces high-quality, award-winning water, and that finished water is distributed to homes and businesses all across our service area. In Louisville, finished water temperature varies depending on the time of year, as well as which plant produced it. Once that finished water reaches your home, some of the water goes to your hot water heater. When you turn your hot water knob, the water that comes out of the faucet is water that has been heated in your hot water heater. Water heaters are made of metal parts and most hold hot water in the heater until you need it. Over time, there is more of a chance for those metals to penetrate the water that is being heated.

“Hot water from a water heater is not recommended for consumption mainly due to the fact that hot water can reside for extended periods in a hot water tank,” said Emily Fritz, a scientist at Louisville Water. “Hot water also has a greater tendency to leach metals from plumbing components, and hot water heaters/boilers have a life span which means they slowly degrade over time. The surest way to make sure you are consuming the highest quality product is to always use cold water from the tap.”

When consuming or cooking with water, take water from the cold water tap and heat it separately – by boiling, microwaving, or letting your coffee maker do its job. Hot water from the tap is fine for washing, bathing, cleaning and most other activities.

About 300,000 passengers walk through Louisville International Airport every month. Many of them stop to get a drink of water or fill a bottle on their way to or from their plane, and now they know exactly where that water comes from thanks to Louisville Water-branded fountains and bottle-filling stations throughout the terminal.

The five airport water stations have large logos and most also feature huge wall graphics that leave no doubt about the source of the water.

So, in addition to offering easy access to hydration, the water stations are intended to educate both Louisville visitors and local residents about the high quality and good taste of Louisville’s drinking water — something that is uncommon in many of the places people are flying to or coming from.

In all, Louisville Water has added messaging to more than 50 drinking water fountain locations throughout the city. New, branded water stations have also recently been unveiled at the Louisville Zoo as well as the Kentucky International Convention Center.

Last month Public Works, in coordination with Metropolitan Sewer District, installed new signs in city controlled viaducts that will help first responders quickly locate motorists stranded in flood waters.

The reflective signs are black letters against a white background with the street address on a top plate above the viaduct number on a separate plate immediately below. The signs were placed at viaducts in 22 locations that are known to be flood prone.

Those location signs installed in January are the second phase of a flood signage improvement program begun last fall. In October 2018 new viaduct approach signs went up at 24 locations. Wording on the new signs was updated to reflect the latest national standard based.

Signs not a replacement for common sense

The words ROAD MAY FLOOD replaced DO NOT ENTER WHEN FLOODED as the up-to-date way to focus the attention of drivers on the hazards of flood prone areas. Signs were installed at ten locations that previously had no sign. Four locations required only replacements with the new wording, and ten others got additional signs along with replacements for old ones. 

Public Works and MSD are also examining the feasibility of adding a smaller number of flashing signals at viaducts most likely to experience dangerous flood levels. 

The signs do not replace the common sense idea that motorists should not attempt to drive through flooded areas. It only takes six inches of water to stall some cars or cause their drivers to lose control. Deeper waters can lead to tragedy, and there is no way to tell how deep the water is until it is too late. The best advice is, Turn around, don't drown. It's a decision that may save a life at the cost of only a few minutes of extra driving time.