Drove My Checkbook to the Levy...

Property owners in the Mississippi Bottoms take note--it's not what was rising (river waters) that you need to worry about now as much as what's about to rise (your taxes and other costs). A little time and attention now may save a good deal of money in the future.

Last summer, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shocked communities across the nation by announcing that it would decertify many levee systems which badly need restoration and repair. In the Metro East, the Corps cited past problems with floods and current issues with underseepage and sand boils as evidence of the need for as much as $180 million in repairs; worse yet, Congressional leaders were quick to caution communities here and elsewhere across the country not to expect federal funds to pay for these repairs.

Earlier this year, the Illinois General Assembly passed SB836 and SB2052, authorizing the formation of flood protection districts by the three counties in the Metro East. These new districts are expected to be given the authority to impose a 1/4 cent sales tax to raise revenues needed to fund levee repair work--taxes that will start being collected in the spring of 2009--allowing them to pay for levee repairs now and be reimbursed by sales taxes later.

The new districts are part of a regional effort involving Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties as well as 25 cities and villages to restore certification for the five levees between Wood River and Columbia that protect the Metro East’s flood plain. This flood plain is home to more than 150,000 people and 50,000 jobs. The regional effort is needed because the infrastructure of roads, transportation, and jobs in the American Bottoms is a shared resource and because the five levees represent an interdependent system that is hydrologically connected.

As the first step in decertification, FEMA has released new maps for Southwestern Illinois that show the American Bottoms, from the Mississippi River east to Bluff Rd., as no longer protected. The regional effort hopes to achieve a special designation known as a restoration (AR) zone. This designation recognizes that the levees still offer a significant level of protection and that restoration is underway.

The funding for this regional effort, mandated by federal action, will come from local sources. Property owners in the Bottoms, especially, need to find out what improvements are proposed and what alternatives (limited though they may be) currently exist for paying the bill. A few resources are already being deployed to help business owners and residents better understand the costs of proposed action--and the potentially higher costs of doing nothing.

FEMA and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will host a flood risk information open house in Monroe County in about two weeks:

July 29th - Monroe County Annex Bldg
Public Officials Briefing - 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Public 5:00 - 8:30 p.m.

This open house will educate and inform residents and business owners about the remapping process affecting the region. Recently released preliminary flood plain maps will be on display during the event.