Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
April 27, 2007
1. Top Items
Sacramento approves flood assessment on homes, businesses - Associated Press
Voters back flood tax; Higher property assessment will pay to shore up Folsom Dam, local levees - Sacramento Bee
Sacramento approves flood assessment on homes, businesses
Associated Press – 4/26/07
By Samantha Young, staff writer
Property owners overwhelmingly approved an initiative that will raise taxes on their homes and businesses to bolster the region's flood protection, according to ballot results announced Thursday.
Nearly a third of the 140,000 property owners who live in flood-prone areas in
"I think that's a cause for a round of applause," Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo said immediately after the announcement.
After Hurricane Katrina,
A catastrophic flood in the
The assessment is designed to double the region's flood protection to a 200-year level, which means
The fee is expected to raise $274 million over 30 years to pay the local share of strengthening about 100 miles of levees and raising Folsom Dam, about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento along the American River.
The ballots were weighted so property owners most at risk would pay more. Property owners will pay anywhere from a few dollars a year to several thousands dollars depending on their flood risk. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/44218.html
Voters back flood tax; Higher property assessment will pay to shore up Folsom Dam, local levees
Sacramento
By Phillip Reese, staff writer
Sacramento-area voters have overwhelmingly approved a $326 million property tax to improve Folsom Dam and local levees, sanctioning a down payment that supporters say will bring greater flood protection to the area.
The results, announced Thursday at a board meeting of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, were lopsided: Almost 82 percent of the weighted votes were in support of the measure; the rest opposed it.
All told, about 45,000 ballots were cast by property owners, with just more than 800 of those ballots deemed invalid.
Some ballots had more votes than others, depending on each property owner's assessment amount.
"For those of us who represent people who live in the floodplain and are at risk, this is momentous," said county Supervisor Roger Dickinson, a SAFCA board member.
Under the approved measure, a new assessment district will replace two existing districts.
The average property tax increase is about $35 a year.
Money raised by the tax will provide a local match for state and federal funds -- together, they will build projects costing $2.68 billion.
Some of the matching funds come from Proposition 1E, the flood-safety bond statewide voters approved in November.
"This assessment is about paying the local match," said Jay Davis of Gualco Consulting, which works with SAFCA.
"Otherwise, those funds will not come our way."
The assessment ballot was driven, in part, by revelations last year that Natomas levees do not meet a minimum 100-year level of flood protection.
But the money would pay for projects throughout the area, including upgrades to Folsom Dam and levee strengthening along the American and
It's expected to restore 100-year flood protection to Natomas in three to five years and provide 200-year flood protection citywide within a decade.
The biggest part of that protection is a $1.3 billion spillway at Folsom Dam -- with $146 million required from local sources.
The election was controlled by Proposition 218, a constitutional amendment that requires ballots for special assessment districts to be weighted according to the benefit received.
This means a large parcel effectively gets more votes than a small one.
There was no organized opposition to the tax.
Ballots were mailed to about 140,000 property owners.
Almost all of the SAFCA board members and community leaders who spoke after the vote praised the results.
"It shows the confidence the community has in what we are trying to do," said City Councilman Steve Cohn, a SAFCA board member.
Eric Rasmusson of the Sacramento Association of Realtors said the vote will lend muscle to future efforts to get flood-control funds from the state and federal government.
"We've all been across the street and back in
"Frankly, we were a little bit worried that we were going to have to say, 'It passed, we did OK. There was some opposition.'
"I don't think we have to say that anymore; this was a huge number."
The Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce called thousands of property owners during the last few weeks, hoping to get the measure passed.
"This is a huge victory," said
"Once again, the citizens of this county have stepped up in a big way."
It was also a victory for Sacramento Mayor and SAFCA Chairwoman Heather Fargo, who had pushed hard for the new assessment.
"Gee, that's pretty, isn't it?" she said Thursday when handed a sheet with the results on it.
"Eighty-one-point-eight percent." #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/162268.html
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