Exception Hearings Schedule Pushes
MWCD Assessment Past 2007
Collection of the proposed assessment by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District has been delayed by at least one year from its original stated goal of 2007.
Court hearings for several thousand exceptions filed by property owners affected by the proposed assessments will begin soon and are expected to be completed by the end of this year, but that will extend past the deadline that would allow collection to begin in 2007, said John M. Hoopingarner, MWCD executive director/secretary. About 5,000 exceptions to the Conservancy Appraisal Record have been filed. The Appraisal Record contains the estimated benefits and assessments for about 750,000 parcels of property in the MWCD jurisdiction.
“As the number of exceptions grew, we knew it would be a difficult task to comply with our original stated goal of collecting the assessment in 2007, simply because each exceptor has the right to a hearing,” Hoopingarner said. “Although we have settled more than 1,000 of those exceptions by written agreement between the MWCD and the landowners, several thousand more must be dealt with through the Conservancy Court system.
“We will probably exceed the 1,500 mark of cases settled, leaving the remainder for the Conservancy Court to use the statutory process to resolve. It is a very tedious and complex process, but one that is necessary to protect the rights of property owners.”
Hoopingarner stressed that even though collection of funds will not begin until at least 2008, the MWCD is committed to beginning projects in 2007 with any resources that it may have available or be able to provide in partnering and cost-share programs. The projected funds to be collected through the assessment will be used in a similar strategy, Hoopingarner.
The MWCD has been working over the past several years to implement and collect the assessment to fund an estimated $270 million worth of maintenance and improvements for the reservoirs and dams in the Muskingum River Basin as identified by several agencies and experts in watershed planning. Ohio law details how conservancy districts are organized, operate and obtain their funding, as well as the steps the districts must follow in order to levy an assessment.
“We must comply with the law in order to protect the rights of property owners that are subject to the assessment and properly fund the maintenance work necessary to take care of the reservoirs and partner with the federal government to safeguard the dams,” Hoopingarner said. “If we comply with the law, ultimately we should be able to levy that assessment so needed maintenance work is properly funded.”
The additional time also will permit the MWCD to update and improve the Conservancy Appraisal Record. Hoopingarner praised officials from all 18 counties where the assessment will be collected for their cooperation and expertise in the process.
“Accuracy is our No. 1 goal with the appraisal record,” Hoopingarner said. “The MWCD has said from the beginning that it wants the assessment record to be as accurate as possible before seeking final approval.”
Since its inception, the MWCD system of reservoirs and dams 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 future benefits compared to its initial $270-million investment. The plan also will lead to the protection and creation of much-needed jobs with contracts enacted with private firms for much of the work.
Projects that have been identified to be addressed over a 20-year time period include working with the federal government for dam safety improvements, as well as work on 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 developing details of the assessment proposal since 2003, when the Conservancy Court authorized work to begin.
MWCD estimates the assessment will generate more than $11 million annually for projects to maintain and improve flood reduction and water quality programs in the watershed. The plan of work and assessment program have been endorsed by the Akron Beacon Journal, Coshocton Tribune, The Times-Reporter (Dover-New Philadelphia), The Cambridge Daily Jeffersonian and Zanesville Times Recorder.
According to state law, the appraisal methodology was developed by the three-member MWCD Board of Appraisers. Members of the Conservancy Court, which consists of one common pleas court judge from each of the 18 counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD jurisdiction, reviewed and approved the methodology of the assessment.
MWCD is believed to be the only one of 21 active conservancy districts in the state that does not levy and collect a maintenance assessment. The $12-annual assessment for residential and agricultural properties compares favorably with those in the Maumee Conservancy District of $19.88, in the Miami Conservancy District of $60 to $70 and in the Hocking Conservancy District of $35.
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.
The 18 counties 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, visit www.mwcd.org on the Internet or call the MWCD toll-free at (877) 363-8500.
