An ordinance supported by the majority of Louisville Metro Council Democrats would exempt the cost of contracts between public workers and Metro Government from being subject to mandatory reports.
Seven years ago, the council passed legislation requiring the submission of a financial impact statement with any ordinance or resolution that spends taxpayer dollars. The original bill received bi-partisan support and was drafted to provide supporting documentation for any city expenditure, adding it was important to “fully inform the community” about how public funds were spent.
The only exemption to the law is the city’s annual budget, but over a dozen council Democrats are supporting an amendment to exempt collective bargaining agreements, which would bar the cost details of union contracts from being publicly disclosed during negotiations.
Councilman David James, D-6, a former Louisville FOP president, says information about the contracts should be kept confidential because its disclosure could undermine negotiations between Mayor Greg Fischer and Metro employees.
“When contracts are negotiated with labor there’s a good faith negotiation that takes place, but if you have the financial impact statement out there it takes good faith and throws it right out the window,” he says. “The community can be fully informed by simply going and lookin at the contract. The issue is creating a financial statement, which takes away the executive branches and the labor unions ability to negotiate in good faith. And that hurts working families in our community.”
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