Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice of St. Matthews, April 20, 1950:It’s Time To Unite All Of Our Forces To Protect and Develop St. MatthewsWhat should be done about St. Matthews?That’s the $l6,000,000-plus question the City of Louisville would tike to have answered.4 Page —AdvertisementIt means more than that to us in St. Matthews. It means that we must settle the question of whether we are to go on beingkicked around. It means we must decide whether we are going to let ourselves be annexed by the City of Louisville. Itmeans we must determine whether we are going to be independent in spirit and in municipal corporate strength—to grow aswe desire and rightfully feel justified to grow.We cannot remain status quo any longer. We must unite in spirit and in municipal corporate strength to determine our owncourse and future. To delay is to subject ourselves to further indignities at the hands of the “experts.” TO DELAY IS TOLOSE.St. Matthews must progress. It must be able to breathe whenever it wants to without asking some-body—some “expert”—if it can. We must have municipal government. It is the only positive, resolute, decent, righteous, self-respecting course forSt. Matthews. And we must choose NOW.Some think it would be better to be part of Louisville. Some feel St. Matthews can best serve itself, do the best job in itsown interest, as an independent corporate body. Know the facts. We feel sure you will join with those who are for independentcorporate status.The only strength we have is unity. As an unincorporated area, you can be annexed by the City of Louisville without anyinstallation of city services. Unincorporated, we have NO BARGAINING POWER.Incorporated, united in municipal corporate strength, you can BARGAIN with the City of Louisville. YOU CAN DE-MAND THAT THE SEWER DEBT, NOW STANDING AT $2,500,000, BE ASSUMED BY THE CITY OF LOUIS-VILLE—AS THE PRICE OF YOUR WILLINGNESS TO. BE ANNEXED. You can demand that your children be admittedto the city schools without paying tuition. You can demand that police and fire protection, street lights, sanitation, andother services, be given to you immediately upon annexation.BUT UNINCORPORATED, YOU’VE GOT NO BARGAINING POWER. REMEMBER THAT. THE “EXPERTS”KNOW IT. THEY FEAR IT.Do you know that if the $2,500,000 sewer debt is assumed by the Louisville Sewer District, it will save each home ownermore than $1,400? But Louisville will not assume that debt so long as we are divided and unincorporated and yield to annexation.Do you know that annexation by Louisville, in and of itself, does not take you into the Louisville School District?Do you know that Louisville does not want to annex St. Matthews now, really, but only wants to keep us from incorporatingso that WE WILL HAVE NO BARGAINING POWER and so that terms of annexation will not have to be agreed on?If and when Louisville sees fit, and is able, to annex St. Matthews.Louisville now has a bonded debt of more than $39,000,000. That is approximately $500 per tax payer. There is authorizationfor the City of Louisville to increasethat. Interest paid on that debt in 1948 was$1,475,500. That is approximately one-thirdof all real property taxes collected by Louisvillethat year.Do you want to start off with $500 as yourshare of the tax debt of the City of Louisville?On debts owed by the City of Louisvillebefore 1931!United as a municipal corporation, St. Matthewscan BARGAIN and name its ownterms to Louisville, if we decide byPROPER VOTE that annexation is best forus. Or, we can govern ourselves.Do you know that the first $50,000 of taxmoney collected by the City of Louisvilleout of St. Matthews WILL GO IMMEDI-ATELY TO PAY INTEREST ON LOUIS-VILLE’S BONDED DEBT?Unite now! Join hands with THE CITY OFST. MATTHEWS, Protect your rights andthe rights of your children!