It was discouraging to check today's Courier Journal and find that a new prevailing wage ordinace will soon be introduced to the Metro Council. The CJ reports that this time around, it has the support of Mayor Abramson and Greater Louisville Inc. - the city's economic development chamber. Their support stems from the changes that have been made to the ordinance - the biggest change being that the local prevailing wage would only apply to projects over a $25 million threshold.

What is so disappointing about this is that the fundamentals that have generated our opposition to this ordinance remain intact. While we'll grant that it is better to have such a high threshold, establishing the threshold only means that taxpayers will be short-changed on REALLY BIG projects. The underlying distortion of the prevailing wage law will continue to allocate investment dollars on these projects toward artificially inflated wages as opposed to better facilities.

While there is always hope that there will be an epiphany by Metro Council members and/or the Mayor's Office, we're not too bullish on the idea that this ordinance will be defeated.

So - file this away. Some years from now, when a project is built under this prevailing wage ordinance, you'll have the opportunity to engage in an interesting intellectual exercise. You'll be able to walk into that project and ask yourself: wonder what had to be sacrificed due to the short-sightedness of the city's prevailing wage law?