Petitioning for Urban Services

1. Call (859) 258-3407 or send an email to urbanservices@lexingtonky.gov to request petition materials by mail or email.
2. Talk to the homeowners on your street and gauge their interest in adding city services.
3. Ask them to sign the petition.
4. Return the petition to the Department of Environmental Quality & Public Works before August 1. At least 51% of the property owners on the street will have to sign the petition to add new services. The city will verify the names listed on the petition using Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) records.

If the petition is found to contain enough qualifying signatures, a certified letter and voting form will be sent to all property owners on your street.

1. Become informed about what your street adding new service will mean to you.
2. Changes in urban services tax districts are permanent. If your street votes to add a government service such as waste collection, it cannot revert to an urban services tax district with fewer services at a later date.
3. Figure out the cost involved and decide if supporting the addition of a new service makes sense for you. (See PVA tax district calculator)
4. If your street demonstrates majority support for adding service through petitioning, the city will then initiate the formal process to add service by sending letters by certified mail and voting forms to the property owners on your street.  This final opportunity to vote whether you are “for” or “against” helps make sure those who could not be reached during petitioning—due to social distancing concerns or otherwise—still have an opportunity to engage in the process.
5. If you did not sign a petition “for” the service, you must return the voting form marked with “for” or “against” by the voting deadline for your vote to count. The form will tell you how to mail or email your ballot.  If you signed a petition “for” adding services but would like to override and change your previous position to “against,” you may do so by submitting a voting form “against” by the voting deadline.  Your vote “against” will supersede your earlier petition signature “for.”  However, if you signed a petition “for” adding service and you are still “for” adding service, you do not need to register your preference a second time through voting.  Unless superseded by a later vote, your petition signature “for” will automatically count as a vote “for.”
6. If you do not support a tax district change, you will need to vote “against” on your voting form and return it to the city by the deadline. Any property owner who does not vote will not count as an “against” vote. 
7. If, after the final voting deadline, 51% or more of the property owners on your street have indicated their support to add government service, the Urban County Council will approve the change.
8. The process of changing the Urban Service District is required by state law to be completed by December 31 for inclusion in the next fiscal year.
9. The new government service will begin next July when the new tax year begins.   
10. The cost of the new service will be included in your property tax bill that is sent out each fall. If you are adding waste collection services, a $4.50 landfill fee will appear on your LEXserv bill.