With an endorsement of the methodology of an assessment plan from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District Conservancy Court, MWCD officials now will seek final adoption of the program to fund projects to reduce flooding and improve water quality in the watershed beginning in 2007.
If final approval is granted this summer by the Court, collection of assessments from an estimated 522,000 parcel owners in the 18-county jurisdiction of the MWCD would be included with property tax statements at the beginning of next year. MWCD estimates that the assessments would generate more than $12.6 million a year to fund a 20-year, $270-million maintenance and improvement plan for the 14 reservoirs and dams that provide flood-reduction and water quality benefits in the Muskingum River Watershed.
“The MWCD is grateful to the judges of the Conservancy Court for their direction during this process of development of the methodology of the assessment to fund this critical work,” said John M. Hoopingarner, MWCD executive director/secretary. “From the beginning of this process, the goal was to create an assessment that is fair and equitable to all property owners in the watershed. We look forward to the future when we can see the results of the work that will promote flood reduction and water quality improvements for generations to come.”
According to Ohio law, MWCD must officially file the assessment plan and how it affects all property owners in the watershed with the court system. After that expected filing occurs around March 7, public notices will be published in area newspapers and individual property owners will have the opportunity to file objections to the plan within 30 days and have those objections heard by the Conservancy Court later this spring.
During a meeting today (Feb. 25) in the Tuscarawas County Courthouse at New Philadelphia, the judges of the Conservancy Court voted to approve the methodology of the proposed assessment after reviewing it, as well as comments from residents of the region received during two recent public hearings. The Conservancy Court is comprised of one common pleas court judge from each of the 18 MWCD counties.
James Rozelle of the engineering firm Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott & May, consultant to the MWCD Board of Appraisers in developing the assessment plan, provided details to the Court about the assessment. Rozelle said the assessment is based on the estimated contribution of runoff of water from each of the estimated 708,000 parcels in the MWCD jurisdiction.
Owners of residential and agricultural properties would pay an assessment of $12 per parcel annually.
Those parcels of property serve as the base level for computation of the assessment based on the average amount of runoff they produce.
Commercial and industrial property owners would pay more than the residential and agricultural, based on their increased levels of runoff related to the amount of buildings, concrete, asphalt and other items that produce impervious areas on their parcels. For example, a one-acre commercial property would pay an assessment of $132 per year.
The assessment plan also combines adjoining parcels of property that have the same owner and property use code according to county audtiors’ records. Once that task has been computed by the Geographic Information System (GIS) that MWCD has utilized to manage the assessment program, the original 708,000 properties are reduced to about 522,000 that would pay an assessment.
According to state law, the assessment methodology was developed by the three-member MWCD Board of Appraisers. Members of the Board of Appraisers are James Navratil of Medina, Thomas Roe of Wooster and Mark Waltz of Dover.
MWCD is believed to be the only one of 21 active conservancy districts in the state that does not levy and collect an assessment for maintenance of its flood-reduction facilities. The $12-annual assessment for residential and agricultural properties compares favorably with those in the Maumee Conservancy District of $13.26, in the Miami Conservancy District of $86 and in the Hocking Conservancy District of $126.
Since its inception, the MWCD system of dams and reservoirs has prevented more than $6 billion worth of potential property damage from flooding, according to federal government estimates. An independent study of the potential benefits of the MWCD maintenance and improvement plan estimates that once enacted, the region will receive about $2.5 billion in benefits compared to its initial $270-million investment. The plan also will lead to the protection and creation of jobs with contracts enacted with private firms for much of the work.
By law, funds collected from the MWCD assessment cannot be used to pay for improvements related to recreation programs, such as boat launch ramps, camping facilities and others.
Projects that have been identified to be addressed over the 20-year time period include partnering with the federal government for dam safety improvements, sediment removal, shoreline protection, water quality improvements, watershed management and reservoir operations. The MWCD manages the reservoirs behind the dams in the system, while the federal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the dams.
MWCD officials have been discussing the plan and the developing details of the assessment proposal since 2003, when the Court authorized its work to begin. In 2005 alone, Conservancy District officials provided details about the plan in more than 40 public meetings and presentations to business, social and professional groups and organizations.
Through its 70-plus-year history, the MWCD has operated on revenue generated primarily from the use of its facilities through various fee structures and the stewardship of its natural resources. However, this funding alone cannot address the large-scale needs and costs associated with the aging system.
The 14 MWCD reservoirs are: Atwood in Carroll and Tuscarawas counties; Beach City in Tuscarawas County; Bolivar in Stark and Tuscarawas counties; Charles Mill in Ashland and Richland counties; Clendening in Harrison County; Dover in Tuscarawas County; Leesville in Carroll County; Mohawk in Coshocton and Knox counties; Mohicanville in Ashland and Wayne counties; Piedmont in Belmont, Guernsey and Harrison counties; Pleasant Hill in Ashland and Richland counties; Seneca in Guernsey and Noble counties; Tappan in Harrison County; and Wills Creek in Coshocton and Muskingum counties. Two other reservoirs in the system, Dillon in Muskingum County and North Branch Kokosing in Knox County, were constructed after the original 14 and are operated exclusively by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The 18 counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD region are Ashland, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Wayne and Washington.
For more information, visit www.mwcd.org on the Internet.
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