News Alert: Institute supports auditor’s effort to shine the light on special taxing districts operating ‘in the pitch black dark’

Districts responsible for between $500 million and $1.5 billion in taxpayer money    

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Bluegrass Institute publicly stated support this week for a new fact-finding mission initiated by state Auditor Adam Edelen to shed light on Kentucky’s special taxing districts.

“We don’t know how these districts are governed, how they collect and spend revenue or even how many exist in the state, said Logan Morford, vice president of transparency for the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. “This is a very serious transparency problem for our state.”

These entities, which include fire departments, airports, libraries and water, sewer and sanitation districts, are responsible for between $500 million and $1.5 billion in taxpayer money.

“I support the important work that special districts such as libraries, fire departments and water and sewer boards do, but if you have ability to take from taxpayers you have to be accountable to them,” Edelen said in a statement issued by his office on Wednesday. “This is a huge layer of government that is operating not just in the shadows, but in the pitch black dark.”

Many groups from across the political spectrum, including Kentucky Club for Growth and Common Cause Kentucky support the auditor’s initiative, which includes making the findings publicly accessible to citizens in an online database that would contain financial data and other statistics about these districts.

“Placing this information online is a trend that we think could greatly benefit Kentuckians,” Morford said. “It is better to have millions of auditors rather than just one.”