Levee vote: Flood control fees vs. higher insurance

Landowners' payments to fund levee upgrades in Sutter and Butte counties would total $72.5 million if voters approve them this month — and the largest payers would include the area's largest school district, retailer and prune packer.

The Yuba City Unified School District leads a list of the top 15 assessments to be paid to the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency, with a projected bill of $197,888 annually for 30 years. School board members will likely vote June 22 whether to have Yuba City Unified back the levee assessment, according to Baldev Johal, deputy superintendent of business services.

Flood control officials say the project — which would fortify 44 miles of levees along the Feather River's west bank — is needed to head off insurance price hikes and severe development curbs threatened by the state as early as 2015. The levee fortification has attracted endorsements from governments, businesses and the usually tax-averse Sutter County Taxpayers Association.

But even with the prospect of soaring insurance rates and development curbs should the levee funding vote fail, financial troubles could present school officials with a difficult decision, Johal said.

"The price is a huge concern on the tail end of an agonizing budget year which is not over," he said. "We've wrestled with prioritizing decisions, class size, layoff notices to teachers, and (levee assessments) are salt to the wound. But by the same token, the board recognizes the role schools play in the community."

The district may get a hand from Sutter County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The board will consider an agreement with the Yuba City school district to pay a portion of its annual assessment should the proposal be approved. Under the plan, the county would pay $12,000 a year of the school district's cost. The Yuba City City Council earlier this month voted to assist the school district with the same annual contribution.

Sunsweet Growers Inc. of Yuba City is second on the list of highest assessments with a bill expected to be $146,031 a year.

The state, Sutter County and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., owner of a Walmart and Sam's Club in west Yuba City, round out the top five.

Though Sunsweet stands to pay the most of any private firm in the two counties, president and CEO Art Driscoll called the decision to support levee payments an easy one and said he would cast two "yes" votes — one for the company and another as a Yuba City homeowner.

"We certainly think the assessment is expensive for a business of our size, but the bottom line is, the levees have to be fixed, and we'll do our fair share to fix levees and help the community out," Driscoll said Wednesday.

Residential, commercial and agricultural property owners received mail-in ballots last month from the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency, and voting will continue through June 30.

A simple majority in the weighted vote would supply 29 percent of the estimated $250 million price tag for the overhaul, which would extend from the Sutter Bypass north to the Thermalito Afterbay. State bonds authorized by voters' approval of Proposition 1E in 2006 would cover the remaining costs.

Assessments by the flood control agency are based — and property owners' votes weighted — on how much benefit bolstered levees would provide. Factors include the type of land use, number and value of buildings on a parcel and a property's location — with sites in Butte County generally charged less than those in lower-lying Yuba City.

Yearly assessments for homeowners would range from $18 to $265. The flood agency estimates typical rates for single-family homes will range from $71 in Gridley and Biggs to $188 in southwest Yuba City.

Flood insurance premiums tripled in December 2008 for many Sutter County property owners south of Stewart Road, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency ruled century-old levees no longer guarded that area against the peak flood expected every 100 years.

Similar hikes are expected in the north county, and state Senate Bill 5 is slated to block most building permits in the county unless the area gains 200-year flood protection by 2015.

CONTACT Howard Yune at749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com .