A final Court hearing to determine if a proposed assessment by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District can proceed to fund needed maintenance and repairs in the system of reservoirs and dams in the region will be held Aug. 1.
Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Edward E. O’Farrell, the presiding judge of the 18-judge Conservancy Court that has jurisdiction over the MWCD, said that the entire Court will hear evidence and determine whether to confirm the appraisal of benefits.
Ohio law requires that conservancy districts demonstrate that the benefits resulting from the Official Plan of the MWCD will exceed the costs before a maintenance assessment may be levied. A formal benefit analysis prepared by a national watershed expert has reported that the estimated future benefits resulting from the Official Plan of the MWCD could reach as high as $2.5 billion, and up to a 16-to-1 ratio of economic return on the initial investment in specific projects. Estimated benefits accruing to date exceed that amount for flood reduction alone.
A favorable ruling from the Court will permit the MWCD Board of Directors to levy an assessment on owners of property in the 18-county MWCD jurisdiction beginning in 2008.
During the annual business session of the Conservancy Court held recently in the Tuscarawas County Courthouse at New Philadelphia, the member judges of the Court also discussed the legal procedures to be observed for the Aug. 1 hearing. O’Farrell said a formal procedure will be adopted by the Court and released in a ruling from the judges prior to the hearing.
O’Farrell updated the Court on the estimated 300 remaining exceptions filed by individual property owners to the MWCD’s record of estimated benefits and assessments, a document that is entitled the “Conservancy Appraisal Record.” The exceptions must be determined before the Court decides whether the benefits exceed the costs.
As part of the process to ensure the protection of property owners’ rights under the plan, owners have the legal ability to file an exception to the assessment proposed for their parcels. More than 5,200 exceptions were filed and hearings before the Conservancy Court on those cases began nearly a year ago.
Property owners who did not file an exception but may have questions about the assessment proposal and the estimated cost for their parcel(s) are urged to contact the MWCD for details. If adjustments and/or corrections are warranted, the MWCD staff will work directly with the property owner to make the necessary updates.
Projected assessments can be reviewed online at the MWCD website at www.mwcd.org, and the MWCD also can be contacted toll-free at (877) 363-8500.
The MWCD, organized in 1933 to develop a flood-reduction and water conservation plan for the Muskingum River Watershed, never has levied an assessment. But expert studies have shown that the system of dams and reservoirs that has prevented billions of dollars worth of potential property damage from flooding in the watershed is in need of maintenance and safety upgrades. Between $10 million and $11 million would be collected annually from nearly 500,000 owners of property in the MWCD jurisdiction according to the proposal, with 94 percent of all billed parcels paying an annual assessment of $12 per year.
A large portion of the collected assessment funds, up to half of the $270 million total, would be used to meet federal cost-share obligations for safety repairs at several dams. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which owns and operates the dams in the Muskingum River Watershed, estimates safety costs for maintenance of four dams (Beach City, Bolivar, Dover and Mohawk) and one levee (Zoar) on a federal priority list is between $510 million to $680 million, with a federally mandated cost-share obligation from the MWCD of between $95 million to $135 million.
The MWCD, a political subdivision of the State of Ohio, manages the reservoir areas behind the dams in the Muskingum River Watershed, while the USACE owns and operates the dams. The reservoirs, some of which have permanent pools of water (lakes) for water conservation and recreation programs, hold floodwaters temporarily for safe release downstream during flooding conditions.
Most of the remaining work to be completed in the MWCD maintenance plan also would be cost-shared with other agencies and would lead to the protection and creation of jobs in the region.
Because of its relationship with the USACE and the income derived primarily from the recreational use and natural resources stewardship of its lands and waters, the MWCD never has levied an assessment. However, the rising costs associated with safety upgrades and maintenance in the system of reservoirs and dams are much more than the MWCD routinely can generate from its traditional revenue sources.
The counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD jurisdiction are Ashland, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Washington and Wayne.
For more information about the MWCD, visit www.mwcd.org.
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