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Pocono News Section
Luzerne County Approves New Levee Fee
Luzerne County Approves New Levee Fee - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11:35PM EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- A new fee to protect the levee. That's what the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority created Tuesday. Some aren't happy, saying it singles out certain neighborhoods.
Kathy Healey of Wilkes-Barre said, "It protects the whole valley and if we go so do the other areas surrounding us. So I don't feel it should be just put on the people who live in this area."
The fee is for landowners protected by the levee that live in the Agnes flood plain along the Susquehanna River. It affects residents and business owners in 12 municipalities. They are Edwardsville, Exeter, Forty Fort, Hanover Township, Kingston, Luzerne, Plymouth, Pringle, Swoyersville, Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming and West Wyoming.
The authority says it was created to help erase a mutli-million dollar county budget shortfall. Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen Urban said, "We're pushing more and more of this deficit spending on the backs of our kids, grandchildren and people that aren't born. I think there's a bill that's owed now and we're paying as we go when it comes to maintaining the levee system."
This is how it breaks down. If your home's assessed value is below $100,000, you'll pay about $47 a year. If it’s under $100,000, it’s nearly $94. For commercial property, the fee starts at $225 a year and goes up from there, topping out close to $675.
This fee isn't just about the levee. It's also to help maintain massive pumping facilities like the one here in Wilkes-Barre and in turn protect the neighborhoods that it services.
Kingston Mayor Jim Haggerty says more Luzerne County communities should chip in. "It's not fair, it's not uniform and it might not be legal," he said.
Mayor Haggerty says storm water from communities outside the flood plain drain into the Susquehanna River. But some, like Amy Cybulski in Kingston are okay with the fee. "I wish we didn't have to pay it but it's a safeguard," she said. | | |
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