Re: Increased levee assessments

Levee Districts 1 and 9 in Sutter County are getting ready to expand their assessment areas and increase assessment fees. A meeting on Monday, August 6 at 8 a.m. is scheduled to advance a proposal for a new “Special Benefit Assessment District.” Location of the meeting is the Board of Supervisors chambers on Second Street in Yuba City.

Information concerning this planned meeting was disclosed by Levee District 1’s manager at Levee District 9’s meeting on July 12. LD 1 said it would be an ‘emergency’ meeting and, therefore, would only require 24 hours’ notice instead of the 72 hours required to notice a public meeting. LD 1 and LD9 meeting notices are not normally sent to the Appeal Democrat or the Territorial Dispatch.

The two levee districts are claiming they will need additional funds to operate and maintain our recently rehabilitated levees to comply with state requirements for Operation, Maintenance, Repair, Rehabilitation and Replacement (OMRR&R) of local maintenance districts. However, state levee maintenance districts are not requesting more funding for their sections of the levee. Furthermore, all levees along the Feather River are the responsibility of the State of California as stated in the court case regarding the 1986 flood and lack of state maintenance of the levees.

The Sutter County Taxpayers Association (SCTA) is opposed to increasing assessments for OMRR&R as property owners will still be paying for the recently completed levee rehabilitations for the next 25 years. And, yes, SCTA is glad the levees have been and continue to be fixed. However, SCTA is recommending that the state take over maintenance of the sections of the Feather River levee now maintained by Levee Districts 1 and 9. We believe that it will be less expensive and that it will also remove any potential liability from local property owners should a catastrophic incident happen.

A further concern is the fact that SBFCA is funding the effort to expand the two districts and hold a special Prop. 218 election for this Special Benefit Assessment District. When we voted the assessment to fix our levees in 2010, it was repeatedly stated that the money raised could only be spent on levee repair/rehabilitation and administrative costs. SBFCA will be paying an estimated $228,000 of assessment money for financial and technical support to get this new assessment district up and running – a violation of the restriction placed on use of our assessment money. The money SBFCA is fronting will only be repaid if the voters approve the new assessment district and increased assessment.

Additionally, in return for SCTA’S support of the 2010 assessment, SCTA was promised an advisory committee to oversee SBFCA operations and to act as an interface with the public. Well, you know what happened there, the Citizens Assessment District Advisory Committee (CADAC) was disbanded by SBFCA in September 2017 destroying any ‘citizen oversight.

We urge you to come to the August 6 meeting and oppose the Special Benefit Assessment District and increased assessments.

Pat Miller,