One Metro Area, Two Legal Systems
Louisville's metropolitan area spans a state line, which is unusual and has a consequence people underestimate. The neighbourhoods on either side of the river share a labour market, a newspaper and a set of contractors. They do not share a legal framework for anything on this website.
Section 172B of the Kentucky Constitution and the assessment moratorium statutes are Kentucky law. Louisville Metro Code Chapter 154, Chapter 156 and section 32.288 are Louisville Metro law. None of it reaches Jeffersonville, New Albany, Clarksville or anywhere else in Indiana. The Kentucky position is on our page covering the moratorium and the lien.
Is There an Indiana Equivalent of the Moratorium?
The Contractor Problem
The practical effect that surprises people most. A contractor working both sides of the river deals with two building departments, two permitting systems and two sets of local requirements.
Many are entirely comfortable with that. Some are licensed and experienced on one side only, and a quote from somebody who works mainly in Louisville on a New Albany property may be built on assumptions that do not hold. It is a fair question to ask before relying on a figure.
Does That Affect What Buyers Offer?
We publish no Indiana requirements, thresholds or values for individual properties. Clark County, Floyd County and the cities within them administer their own, and each will state its position for an address.
Different Recorders, Different Searches
Louisville Metro liens are recorded with the Jefferson County Clerk in Kentucky. Nothing about an Indiana property appears there.
Property records for Southern Indiana parcels sit with the relevant Indiana county, principally Clark and Floyd. A search of the wrong one returns a clean result rather than an error, which is the quiet way this goes wrong for owners and buyers alike.
The Building Is Still the Building
What does carry across the river is construction. Housing on both sides spans similar eras, and the same physics applies to it.
Older dimensional timber chars on the surface and can frequently be assessed, cleaned back and retained. Later engineered roof trusses and floor systems come out whole once heat has compromised the connections. An engineer's report is worth the same here as anywhere, and it is the one document that does not need translating between jurisdictions.
River Proximity Adds Its Own Questions
Parcels near the Ohio carry floodplain considerations that any rebuild has to satisfy, administered locally rather than by anything in Kentucky. Where that applies it is worth asking about early, because it bears on what the work costs rather than on whether it is allowed.
Southern Indiana in Context
Where the Kentucky programme is most generous, see our page about west Louisville. Where Kentucky's outer suburbs sit, see our page for east Jefferson County.
The Kentucky Provisions That Stop at the River
Section 172B of the Kentucky Constitution, added in 1982, and KRS 99.595, 99.600 and 99.605 with their 25 year threshold and 5 year maximum deferral are Kentucky law. Metro Code Chapters 154 and 156 and section 32.288, with its 15 per cent administrative cost, are Louisville Metro law.
None of the 3 reaches an Indiana parcel, where Clark or Floyd County records apply instead.
Southern Indiana Questions
Does the Louisville Tax Moratorium Help Me?
No. It is a Kentucky constitutional and statutory scheme administered by Louisville Metro and it stops at the state line.
Which County Holds My Records?
The Indiana county your parcel is in, most commonly Clark or Floyd. Not Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Will You Buy in Indiana?
Yes, across Southern Indiana. We work both sides of the river and will tell you which rules actually govern your parcel.