On April 14, 2006 the Home Builders Association of Louisville (HBAL) sent a letter to the directors of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce. This letter attempted to call into question the findings of the recent Cost of Community Services Study for Shelby County, Kentucky (COCS) performed by the American Farmland Trust.

Among other things, the COCS study showed that residential development costs Shelby County $1.21 for each $1.00 of property taxes it takes in. Meanwhile, agricultural land uses more than pay their way.

Needless to say, it would be in HBAL's best interest to disprove the Shelby study, although COCS studies are becoming a standard measurement for growth and detailed analysis of its costs in communities all over the country.

The HBAL letter also took a few swipes at Maintain Our Rural Environment.

To our eyes, the HBAL letter's claims seemed beyond specious; based very little on fact and a whole lot on rhetorical conjecture. But with expertise in mind, MORE sent the HBAL letter to UK Professor Lori Garkovich to review. Ms. Garkovich has a deep background in rural development issues and makes an ongoing study of its effects locally and across the nation.

As you'll see in the following, Garkovich's review and comments point out the real truth.

In the interest of keeping community decisionmakers informed, MORE has sent Ms. Garkovich's review to the directors of the Chamber, along with a cover letter giving an executive summary of sorts.

For details, read the following:

Click COCS study to see the original Shelby County study.

Click MORE letter to Chamber of Commerce to see the MORE March 6th letter to the Chamber that spawned the HBAL response.

Click Louisville Home Builders condemns MORE & COCS study to see the HBAL letter of April 14 to the Chamber.

Click MORE Response to HBAL letter to see the MORE reply to the HBAL letter, along with Professor Garkovich's commentary.