Louisville Metro Council members voted on a handful of high-profile ordinances Thursday night, including an attempt to prevent federal agents from wearing masks and a plan for spending millions in leftover funding.
Metro Council members also voted to extend a property tax break for Churchill Downs, the horse racing track for the Kentucky Derby, until 2055.
The company that runs the track has had a deal with Louisville Metro since 2002. It exempts the property from taxes, but provides Jefferson County Public Schools with what’s called a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT. That annual payment is worth a little under $1 million.
When the proposal to extend Churchill Downs’ tax break was first made public in April, Louisville Metro officials wanted to take the PILOT payment from JCPS and put it into city coffers. Council members reversed course in committee earlier this week, deciding to leave the money with JCPS.
District 17 Democrat Markus Winkler, one of the proposal’s sponsors, told LPM News city officials no longer believe it’d be legal to take the PILOT payment away from the school system. Winkler said whether to approve the tax break, to him, was a question of Louisville’s reputation.
“I think it’s important as a city that we are a place to do business with,” he said. “For me, it has less to do with Churchill Downs and more to do with the next company. It’s important to me that we are sending a signal to the broader market that we are open for business.”
Winkler noted that Churchill Downs’ corporate employees and the people who work at the track still pay payroll taxes to Louisville Metro.
Churchill Downs says it will make nearly $300 million in renovations to the track, including a new building and covered box seats. Earlier this year, the company said it would invest more than triple that into improvements before pausing some plans due to tariff costs.
A Churchill Downs executive told Metro Council members this week the company hopes to make the additional improvements in the coming years.
As part of the agreement, Louisville will also help Churchill Downs borrow money to fund renovations. The city will do that by issuing up to $1.2 billion in bonds on behalf of Churchill Downs, which will have the sole responsibility of repaying the loans.
Under the industrial revenue bond, the racetrack and surrounding properties owned by Churchill Downs will remain exempt from local property taxes for another 30 years.
Some council members who opposed the plan questioned whether the tax break was good for residents, since tax dollars are needed to fund police, EMS and other services provided at the track during Derby.
In order to alleviate some of those concerns, Winkler said the Greater Louisville Lodging Management District, a quasi-governmental agency that collects room taxes from hotels, agreed to use some of that revenue to reimburse the city for security during the Derby.
Metro Council approved the tax break 18-7, with one council member voting “present.”.
Metro Council rejects mask ban for law enforcement
Metro Council members voted down another ordinance that was aimed at preventing federal agents from concealing their identity while operating in Louisville.
The proposed ordinance would have tweaked the city’s existing ban on masking to make clear that the ban applies to “any federal, state or local law enforcement officer,” and that concealing one’s identity is not a recognized exemption.
District 6 Democrat J.P. Lyninger sponsored the proposal. He said residents in his district, which includes parts of Old Louisville, Shelby Park and Park Hill, were concerned about what they’ve seen take place in other cities: masked immigration agents conducting raids, showing up at courthouses and hauling people away in unmarked vehicles.
Lyninger said he’s also concerned. He said masked police don’t “engender a feeling of public safety and trust in government.”
“I also think it’s a basic question of accountability,” he said. “If you do not have a way to identify someone that is potentially abusing your civil rights, what recourse do you possibly have to rectifying that?”
Lyninger’s proposed ordinance passed out of the council’s Public Safety Committee 5-4 with a recommendation that the full Metro Council approve it. Despite that, the ordinance was defeated 13 -12, with one council member voting present.
All Republicans voted against the proposal.
District 19 Council Member Anthony Piagentini, who heads the Republican caucus, said federal agents are concerned about being doxxed, having their home addresses and other sensitive information leaked online. He pointed to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security that alleged attacks on immigration officers are up 1,000% this year.
Piagentini also argued a ban on federal agents wearing masks while arresting people or conducting raids in Louisville would ultimately be unenforceable.
“We have no jurisdiction over state or federal law enforcement officers who operate under their legal jurisdictions,” Piagentini said. “So, it seems this is for political purposes or to make a political point.”
District 26 Council Member Brent Ackerson, one of the few Democrats to vote against the proposal, said he was also concerned about “poking the bear without knowing if we have a legal basis to poke the bear.” Ackerson said he was concerned that passing the legislation would put a target on Louisville during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
This exact issue is currently being litigated elsewhere.
California and Chicago passed similar masking bans earlier this year. Trump’s administration sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, claiming the ban is unconstitutional because it violates the Supremacy Clause.
Council directs funding to crisis center, public pools and more
In one of its final meetings of 2025, Metro Council approved an ordinance dividing up a $17 million surplus from the previous fiscal year.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg proposed a spending plan last month. It was heavy on public safety and housing. The power of the purse, though, lies with the council.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Metro Council’s Budget Committee approved amendments to Greenberg’s plan that shifted some of the proposed funding toward council members’ priorities.
While Greenberg wanted almost $2 million for infrastructure projects receiving federal support, Metro Council cut that to $631,000. The council also decreased money set aside for renovations at the Sun Valley Pool from $2 million to $1.5 million.
Much of that funding shifted from those projects will instead go toward a crisis care center that will be run by the nonprofit Seven Counties Services. It will function much like the Living Room Program, which Mayor Greg Fischer and Metro Council shuttered in 2019 when the city made budget cuts.
Winkler, who is vice chair of the Budget Committee, said the center will be a 24/7 space where people can come on the worst day of their lives. There will be resources to help people facing homelessness or having a mental health crisis.
“If they are in some form of crisis, we need a place to take them that’s not the emergency room and that’s not jail,” he said.
Winkler said the funding will help Seven Counties with startup costs. He hopes it will be a one-time expense for the city and the nonprofit will be able to fund the program through Medicaid billing.
The funds being reallocated include roughly $5 million provided to UofL Health to build a birthing center at Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, which it didn’t use. LPM News first reported in August that the project was being halted because of federal Medicaid cuts.
Some of the programs and services that will now be funded include:
- $4 million for a future, unspecified economic development project
- $2.3 million for new Louisville Fire Department trucks
- $500,000 for rental assistance
- $250,000 for down payment assistance
- $571,000 for snow removal improvements
- $800,000 for a health clinic at Americana World Community Center
- $1.5 million for the Newburg Community Center
A complete breakdown of how the $17 million surplus will be spent is available here.
