The first public meeting of Louisville's Merger 2.0 Task Force is Monday.The task force was formed earlier this year to study what has and has not worked since the 2003 city-county merger. Two key issues are urban services and fire protection. Currently, residents of the old city pay higher taxes and receive extra services. The panel will likely figure out whether those services could reasonably extended to the suburbs, where they are currently provided by small cities or private companies.The task force includes several members of urban and suburban fire districts. They will likely discuss whether suburban districts should consider merging to save money. Several districts have already joined together, but others are facing significant budget shortfalls.The public meeting Monday is meant to give the task force the chance to hear citizen accounts of merger's successes or failures. It will be held at 7 pm at the Kentucky Center for African-American Heritage. Three more meetings are planned for the following Mondays:
- 7 p.m. April 11th at Southwest Government Center, 7219 Dixie Highway
- 7 p.m. April 13th at Central Government Center, 7201 Outer Loop
- 7 p.m. April 18 at East Government Center, 200 Juneau Drive
