Luzerne County officials approved the Wyoming Valley Levee fee in 2009 so the county’s strapped general fund operating fund budget would no longer have to pay for ongoing management and maintenance of the flood control system along the Susquehanna River.
The fee is once again at the forefront because the county’s five-citizen Flood Protection Authority unanimously voted Tuesday to seek discussions with the county about restructuring the financial relationship to make funding “equally distributed” to all county taxpayers.
The tiered fee on 14,136 properties in the 1972 Agnes floodplain generates approximately $1.8 million annually.
Since the fee inception, critics have argued the county as a whole should be paying for levee maintenance, similar to the way county tax revenue covers county-owned roads and bridges that are only in some municipalities.
Fee advocates have maintained levee maintenance should be paid by direct beneficiaries because the levee helps with flood insurance rates and provides protection not available to all low-lying municipalities within the county.
County Manager Randy Robertson attended Tuesday’s authority meeting with several county staffers to learn more about the levee system and authority structure, but he said extensive research and discussion would be necessary before the county could take a position on the levee fee situation.
“In my opinion, this is certainly a decision for council and the people who elected the council,” Robertson said after the meeting.
Flood Authority member Richard Adams, of Kingston, has repeatedly complained the levee fee is unfair and pushed for Tuesday’s vote to work with the county on another option. The four remaining authority board members supported attempting negotiation: Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi, Vice Chairman William Hardwick, Gordon Dussinger and John Maday.
Yannuzzi noted in the overview briefing for Robertson and his team that nearly 100,000 residents and major employers fall within the levee-protected area.
Stretching 16 miles, the levee system includes 78 drainage structures, 128 relief wells, 20 closure structures, 13 pump stations with 39 deep-well pumps and an electrical distribution system consisting of eight substations, 27 transformers and miles of underground and aerial transmission lines, the authority told Robertson.
The system received its highest rating ever this past year due to the authority’s work staying on top of maintenance requirements, Yannuzzi said.
Authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman said the system sustained millions of dollars in damage when it held up during record Susquehanna flooding in 2011, and the federal government picked up the entire repair tab because the system had been highly maintained by the authority.
The authority was created in 1996 as part of the levee-raising because the federal government, which funded 75 percent of the project, wanted a single entity to operate and take care of the system, including stretches previously under municipal control, officials have said.
In support of his argument for countywide funding of the system, Adams said the cost could be $1 million if a pump station malfunctions.
“I think the funding should be changed to reflect some of the risk,” he said.
In other business Tuesday, the authority board unanimously voted to authorize Belleman to craft a proposed policy for the use of electric bikes on the recreational path atop the levee.
At the suggestion of Adams, Belleman said he also will seek input from local bicycle businesses and groups.