Board of Appraisers Explore Benefits from MWCD System
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District’s system of dams and reservoirs has provided benefits to owners of property in the region since its operation began 70 years ago.
Now the MWCD is working to identify all of those benefits and determine the estimated economic value of the system.
Members of the MWCD’s Board of Appraisers spent much of their meeting today (Oct. 19) discussing the various kinds of benefits that property owners receive from the existence of the system, which was constructed in the 1930s to provide flood reduction and water conservation protection for residents in the Muskingum River Watershed. By law, the three-member Board of Appraisers must identify the benefits as part of its work to develop the methodology of an assessment program to fund a $270-million maintenance and improvement plan for the system.
The MWCD’s plan, approved earlier this year by the Conservancy District’s Board of Directors and Conservancy Court, would be funded through an assessment of owners of property in the 18-county MWCD region. The assessment, which has been estimated to cost $12 per year for owners of residential and agricultural properties (with industrial/commercial still being developed), has been projected to begin collection in 2007 and include the combination of parcels with the same owner and use code.
A basic list of benefits was reviewed, but the three-member Board of Appraisers agreed that many more benefits may exist and that some expertise would be needed in order to determine an economic benefit estimate. By Ohio Law, the benefits must have a value that is greater than the cost of the proposed maintenance and improvement projects in order to proceed. The benefits discussed included the following:
- Continuation of flood protection resulting from dam safety improvements to the 14 dams in the system, along with additional benefits derived from local flood reduction, flood warning, debris removal and reconstruction of flooded roads. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that more than $6 billion in potential property damage has been saved by the existence of the system of dams and reservoirs.
- Restoration of the reservoir system through removal of sediment.
- Protection of the eroding shoreline of the reservoirs.
- Improving water quality in rivers and streams through water quality monitoring, mine drainage mitigation and wastewater treatment repairs.
- Watershed management.
- Increased reservoir maintenance operations.
- Emergency vehicle access.
- Schoolbus safety.
- Mail and package delivery.
- Pollution and disease control.
- Reduced road/bridge repair taxes.
- Reduced risk of drowning and personal injury.
- Reduced utility interruptions.
- Ability to get to work.
- Ability to shop.
- Ability to sell and ship goods.
- Taking care of surplus water.
- Economic development.
The Board of Appraisers is responsible for determination of an overall value for benefits from the maintenance and improvement plan. It is not legally required to provide a value of the benefits apportioned on a per-property basis, but does have to develop the per-property assessment fee among similar parcels.
Members of the Board of Appraisers also approved a resolution during the meeting to request that the MWCD’s Board of Directors obtain technical assistance for evaluation of the benefits that will be derived by property owners from the plan.
In related matters, the Board of Appraisers also agreed to continue research and development of its billing policies while the initial data collection process to build a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) for the assessment process continues. The MWCD has committed to development of a GIS program for the maintenance assessment program to provide accurate information to property owners through the MWCD and to minimize the costs of program development for the 18 counties’ auditor and treasurer offices, which will handle assessment fee billing and collection.
Billing policies discussed in recent meetings include the methods for how the assessment would treat the definition of residential and non-residential properties, agricultural properties, vacant properties, parcel consolidation procedures, service charge calculation procedures, exempt parcels, public roads, billing adjustments, and condominiums, apartments and MWCD cottage site leases.
Board members also agreed to acknowledge and emphasize that the MWCD’s Amendment to the Official Plan, which details the proposed flood reduction and water quality improvements, does not call for the use of eminent domain procedures to accomplish the work. The Board said it agrees that eminent domain is not included in the plan, and that residents who wish to review the plan can find it in its entirety for free on the MWCD website at http://www.mwcd.org.
The next meeting of the Board of Appraisers, which by law is the body that develops the methodology for assessments related to conservancy districts, is Nov. 16.
Ohio law authorizes the state’s conservancy districts to levy assessments. Three basic classes of parcels are subject to the assessment: residential, agricultural and commercial/industrial. The Board of Appraisers – James Navratil of Medina, Thomas Roe of Wooster and Mark Waltz of Dover – have said they plan to have their work related to the program complete by early 2006.
Since its inception, the MWCD has operated on revenue 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, which are showing the effects of sedimentation, erosion and other issues that can have a negative impact on flood reduction and water quality benefits.
The MWCD, the largest of the estimated 21 conservancy districts in the state, is believed to be the only one active district that does not collect an assessment for maintenance of its facilities.
