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Approximately 63 percent of revenue has been collected so far from a controversial Wyoming Valley Levee fee that was hiked earlier this year, an official said Wednesday.

“I’m pretty happy with that collection rate,” said Christopher Belleman, executive director of the county Flood Protection Authority, which oversees the levee.

Tuesday was the deadline for the 14,153 impacted Luzerne County property owners to pay the fee before a 10 percent penalty was added.

A fee increase was necessary because the $1.2 million it generated annually wasn’t keeping pace with the average $1.89 million needed each year to maintain the 16-mile flood control system along the Susquehanna River, officials said.

The increase amounts to 35 percent for all residential properties and commercial, industrial and tax-exempt buildings assessed under $100,000, while those assessed over that amount must pay 79 percent more.

The authority received $1.181 million in payments as of Tuesday’s deadline, or 63 percent of the total $1.89 million billed June 1, Belleman said Wednesday.

Bills unpaid after Dec. 31 will be forwarded to an outside agency for further collection measures.

A few property owners contacted the authority seeking justification for the increase because they were unaware of media coverage and a public information session that was poorly attended, said Belleman.

Fee supporters have argued levee-protected properties should shoulder the expense of ongoing maintenance to keep the levee certified, while critics maintain all property owners should share the cost as they do for county-owned roads, bridges and services. Officials enacted the fee in 2009 to relieve the county’s strapped general fund operating budget.

Based on the assessed value of structures, not land, property owners must pay $17 to $33 more annually for residential structures and $33 to $537 for commercial, industrial and tax-exempt buildings. Total annual payments range from $63 to $1,213.

Minimally acceptable

Army Corps of Engineers representatives spent several days inspecting the levee last week to determine its certification status, said Belleman.

“They were very pleased and happy with what they saw,” he said, noting he expects a certification determination in the first half of 2018.

The Corps grades levees as acceptable, minimally acceptable or unacceptable after inspections, and the current rating of the Wyoming Valley system is minimally acceptable.

An unacceptable rating would disqualify a system from federal funding for flood damage repairs, officials have said.

The Corps manages nearly 14,000 levees across the country and has reserved the acceptable rating for only a handful of levees, primarily smaller, new ones, Belleman said.

“Our ultimate goal is to get that ever-elusive acceptable rating,” he said.

Vegetation has been cited as a deficiency for the local levee in past years. The federal government imposed tougher certification standards — including the banning of trees within 15 feet of levee bases — after Hurricane Katrina, largely because dislodged trees with large rootballs could leave cavities during flooding, Belleman said.

The authority will seek bids later this month for tree and stump removal.

Maryland-based Geo-Technology Associates Inc. also has completed more than half of its inspections of approximately 120 relief wells, which resemble metal trash cans above ground. These wells act as valves to relieve water pressure that could compromise the levee.

The inspections, which cost $110,000, are another certification requirement, Belleman said. Recommended repairs and modifications will be completed next year, he added.

Belleman also is preparing bids to repair the asphalt road atop the levee, which is primarily for maintenance purposes but has become a popular recreation amenity for bikers, walkers and joggers.

This road is more than 20 years old and has developed cracks.

Brass-disc location identifiers that the Army Corps embedded in concrete in the road also will be removed because some of them have “heaved up pretty significantly” and could create a hazard, Belleman said.

Depending on the bid amounts, the project may be split into phases if total funding is not immediately available.

“That road is starting to show its age and deteriorate. We’re trying to be proactive so the road could be good for another 20 years,” Belleman said.

Belleman
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Belleman-Chris.jpgBelleman

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

jandes@www.timesleader.com

FEE BASICS

Boundary lines for the Wyoming Valley Levee fee, which was implemented in 2009, were based on which properties are protected by the raised levee, which was designed to prevent a repeat of the 1972 Agnes Flood. The fee is paid by the owners of properties that were touched by water in 1972 in 12 municipalities.

Visit www.lcfpa.org for more information.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.