Jeffersonville Annexation

Why Annexation?

This reflects the current reality of our area and how it functions. The City of Jeffersonville now provides services to much of the area to be annexed. The present boundaries leave holes that are difficult to administer. This is one community.
This will improve the overall health and safety of our area. It will bring modern and reliable public services to the entire community, greatly improved police and professional fire protection. County governments were not established to deal with urban areas.
More users of city services will be involved in supporting those services. Under the annexation plan, about 10,000 people who regularly use the city’s services – such as economic development efforts, roads, parks and recreation, the swimming pool, and other facilities– will actually be a part of the city and have a more direct link in supporting those services. This is a big-picture issue. This is an opportunity to move the community forward in a very positive way...a step that can enhance the quality of life for the entire community. Can you imagine Jeffersonville without Port Fulton, Claysburg, Northaven, Golfview, the Meadows, and many more?
This increases our economic development leverage. This plan will help Jeffersonville, as well as the entire region, become more competitive and flexible in future economic development initiatives. We will be more capable of handling the continuing and certain growth of our community.
More citizens will have a “say” in the city’s future. There are thousands of people who live outside Jeffersonville city limits, but whose lives and businesses are affected by day-to-day management and big-picture planning decisions made by city leaders. With this plan, these residents can play a role in those decisions and in the city’s future.
This plan will bring fresh talent and new ideas. With Jeffersonville involving new people with fresh thinking, the entire community stands to gain. Every city, regardless of its size or geographic boundaries, benefits from fresh talent, new ideas and different ways of thinking.
Jeffersonville would be the area’s largest city. Jeffersonville would become one of the largest cities east of Evansville and south of Indianapolis, making the entire Southern Indiana area stronger and more competitive economically, politically, and culturally.

Annexation Area and Corporate Boundary Map***

[ *** Please download full presentation for maps and other important information.]

Frequently Asked Questions:

Am I in the proposed annexed area?

A list of the subdivisions and a map of the proposed annexed area is shown elsewhere on this web site. Most areas around Jeffersonville are in the annexation proposal which includes nearly 10,000 people and several thousand acres.

How much will annexation cost me?

This is really an unknown at this point, due to the changes in state tax law than came with House Enrolled Act 1001 of 2008. What we do know is that many people living in annexed areas should see a decrease in expenses, because:
• City sanitation service eliminates the need for private service, which homeowners pay for quarterly.
• HEA 1001 transferred the burden of public school general funds (operating budgets) from property taxes to a state sales tax. In Jeffersonville, the public schools portion of your tax rate has been about 45 percent in recent years.
• HEA 1001 caps the tax burden for owner-occupied homes at 1.5 percent of gross assessed value for taxes payable in 2009 and at 1 percent thereafter.
• In recent years, the City of Jeffersonville’s tax rate has decreased from $1.663 per $100 of assessed value for property taxes payable in 2003 to 97.72 cents per $100 of assessed value for taxes payable in 2008. This means that the tax base is growing more quickly that the city’s property tax levy, which is the portion of its budget that is funded by property taxes.

Does Jeffersonville make a profit on the annexation?

No. On December 9, 2008 the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance’s Local Government Tax Control Board voted 4-0 to approve a $3,214,010 excess levy to cover the expense of providing city services to those annexation tracts outside the Oak Park Conservancy District. This addition to the city’s budget was approved only after the city demonstrated that it reflected the actual costs to provide services to those areas and would not be a windfall for padding the city’s budget elsewhere.

What are the additional costs the city will incur?

The City has had a fiscal study of additional costs prepared. It is presently in draft form and enumerates the anticipated costs. A final draft will be included with any ordinance for annexation. Principal costs include 18 new police and 12 new firemen, a new fire station, and garbage pick up personnel and equipment. The City will also be responsible for streets and roads, drainage and other costs.

Who prepared the fiscal study for the city?

Umbaugh and Associates, an Indianapolis CPA firm recognized as experts and specializing in municipal accounting and taxes.

I live in Oak Park, will my sewer bill change?

No. The Oak Park Conservancy will continue to sever its customers.

I have been annexed and am not on sewers. Will I get sewers and, if so, what will it cost?

Within three years after annexation, the city must provide sewer services to you. There may be isolated locations within the annexation area – where existing septic systems are functioning properly and do not pose a health risk – where sewer installations might take longer. Your cost will include at tap-in fee – currently $1,500 – and a monthly bill, which is based on your water consumption. Presently, the city’s average sewer bill is about $25 per month. However, sewer rates are likely to increase soon so that the city can make additional improvements to its wastewater collection and treatment system and further limit combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSOs violate the Clean Water Act. Jeffersonville is one of 107 CSO communities in Indiana and one of 772 nationally. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is enforcing the Clean Water Act in all of these communities, ranging from large cities such as Atlanta and Chicago to smaller ones such as Jeffersonville, Evansville and Madison. Jeffersonville anticipates spending $100 million to $120 million to address the EPA’s enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Indianapolis – by way of comparison – will likely spend $1.5 billion to $2 billion to solve similar problems on a much larger scale. For more information on Jeffersonville’s wastewater system, watch WJHS-TV (Insight Channel 25) during June and July for a six-part series that will explain the city’s work with EPA and how it will likely affect your sewer bill.

I am in the proposed annexed area and am not on sewers. Will I get sewers and if so what will it cost?

Within three years after annexation, the city must provide sewer services to you. Your cost will be a $1,500 tap in fee. In addition a monthly service cost presently about an average of $25 per month will be charged.

When is the proposed annexation to take place?

If you live in an annexed area – but not the Oak Park Conservancy District – your annexation took effect on Jan. 1, 2008. If you live in the Oak Park Conservancy District, your annexation takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.

When will I begin paying city taxes and when will I begin receiving city services?

For those annexed areas outside the Oak Park Conservancy District, services were phased in starting in the last quarter of 2008 and are now in full service and your first property tax bill that will include city taxes will be due this year. For those living in the Oak Park Conservancy District, services will be phased in beginning in late 2010 and will be in full service by Jan. 1, 2011 and your first property tax bill that will include city services will be due in 2011.

When can I vote in City elections?

All city offices including mayor, city council, city judge and clerk treasurer will first be up for election after annexation in May of 2011.

Will I have representation in city government after annexation?

Yes, districts will be redrawn to include the annexed area. And Councilmen Ron Grooms and Nathan Samuel are at-large members of the council, meaning they represent everyone in the city.

Will my homeowners insurance be affected by annexation?

For insurance purposes your property will be two classifications better as a result of having professional fire protection as opposed to voluntary. This may result in a reduced premium.

Does the city’s status change after annexation?

It could. Jeffersonville is a third class city and could become a second class city following annexation. A third class city has an elected mayor, clerk-treasurer and seven-member city council (five district and two at-large seats). A second class city has an elected mayor, clerk and nine-member city council (six district and three at-large seats). The duties of a third class city’s clerk-treasurer are split in a second class city between an elected clerk – who is responsible for the keeping of public documents – and a mayor-appointed comptroller, who is responsible for the city’s financial management. Under either classification, a city court is created by local ordinance and the judges are elected. Once Jeffersonville’s population is certified at 35,000 or more, the mayor and city council can decide to become a second class city.

Are there any other ways that I am personally affected by annexation?

We have tried to answer the most recurring questions about annexation and believe the foregoing fairly represents what affects most people in the proposed annexed area but if you have additional questions you are invited to attend any city council meeting which are on the second and fourth Mondays in January and the first and third Mondays in other months or you may contact any member of the city council whose names and emails are listed on the city’s web site.

Neighborhoods joining the City of Jeffersonville on January 1, 2010