Voters OK levee assessment

Jul. 1—Property owners in parts of Sutter County approved a levee assessment that will allow local officials to maintain control of the required operation and maintenance of levees, avoiding a potential state takeover.

After receiving ballots in early May, property owners in Live Oak, Yuba City and unincorporated areas of Sutter County submitted more than 6,300 ballots with 52.5% of returned weighted votes supporting the proposed assessment. Each ballot was weighted by the dollar amount of the proposed assessment, officials said. For example, every $1 of assessment is equal to 1 vote.

The annual levee operations and maintenance assessment required a vote because costs related to this maintenance are considered inadequate by those working to maintain the levees.

"I essentially, and my staff of two, take care of that 25-mile stretch (of Levee District 1 and Levee District 9)," Drew Stresser, general manager of Levee District 1 and 9, previously said. "Regulations, inflation, increased costs, we haven't had an increase since 1999."

If property owners had decided not to move forward with the assessment, then the state could have taken over the related levee districts had local control no longer been viable.

"If it doesn't pass, Levee District 1 and Levee District 9, they'll just simply go bankrupt and this has happened many many times," Mike Inamine, a principal project director for HDR, a company that specializes in engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services, previously said. "They go bankrupt, they go away, and the state says, 'OK fine.' There's a whole process for this, it's been done many times, they come in and they just impose assessments on everybody. The locals lose control and the state assesses whatever they choose to assess, no vote from people."

The Feather River West Levee Financing Authority (FRWLFA) said in a statement this week that the assessment approved by voters will "bridge the revenue shortfall necessary to operate and maintain 27 miles of west Feather River levee in Sutter County."

FRWLFA previously said if the new assessment was approved by property owners, then money would be collected annually on property tax bills and used to pay for levee operations and maintenance. Assessment revenues cannot be used for any other purpose, FRWLFA said.

"It is always difficult to ask for an assessment, particularly during these difficult times, but unfortunately this was necessary." FRWLFA Board Chair Charlie Hoppin said in a statement. "Property owners did the right thing by voting to keep local levee districts solvent and avoiding the higher cost of State O&M (operations and maintenance). Keeping levee O&M locally controlled and prioritized by those who have the most to gain and the most to lose is critical to our public safety."

FRWLFA previously highlighted the shortfall of funding to properly maintain levees on a local level.

"Recently repaired levees must be maintained to strict state and federal requirements. Currently, there is a $1.3 million shortfall between existing and needed revenues to adequately fund levee maintenance," FRWLFA said in a newsletter about the proposed assessment. "These levees protect approximately 25,000 properties and 75,000 residents in Live Oak, Yuba City, and unincorporated Sutter County, so they must be properly operated and maintained to reduce the potential for flooding."

Stresser previously said it costs about $1.9 million each year to maintain the area.

"The assessment is specifically for levee O&M and has no relation to the $470 million spent on recent levee improvements," Stresser said before the final votes were counted. "The $470 million is like a mortgage on a new house that gets paid off over time; the assessment is for the annual work required to protect that big investment. There is no zero-cost vote. Property owners will pay for levee O&M regardless, either to Levee Districts 1 & 9 (yes vote) or to the state (no vote)."

Stresser said had voters chosen not to approve the assessment, operations and maintenance costs would have been unpredictable.

"A no vote means control reverts to the state. Costs will be unpredictable from year to year, higher over the long-term and property owners won't ever get a vote," Stresser said. "During the 2017 storm events, the state had to make hard decisions about where to send people and resources. While everyone was focused on Oroville Dam, local levee districts led flood fights on two failing levees (that had not yet been repaired). Local control is important to ensuring our community is cared for in times of crisis."

FRWLFA said the next step in the process will be for the board to consider the formation of the FRWLFA Operations and Maintenance Assessment District during its regular meeting on July 13.

"Even if the FRWLFA Board approves the new assessment, it won't appear on property tax bills until fall 2023," FRWLFA said in a statement. "At that time, the assessment will replace existing Levee District 1 and Maintenance Area 3 assessments for those property owners who pay them."

Currently, there are two assessments imposed on Levee District 1, none for Levee District 9 and one assessment for Maintenance Area 3, which is maintained by the state. Inamine previously said the assessment proposed by FRWLFA, and now approved by voters, will both create an assessment and replace any existing agreements.