Pocono News Section

Some Flood Levee Fees Taken Back

Some Flood Levee Fees Taken Back - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 6:00PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Tuesday, Oct 20, 2009 @ 06:00pm EDT
LUZERNE COUNTY -- 15,000 Luzerne County levee fees have been sent out. On Tuesday, the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority announced some will be taken back.

Roughly 1,200 levee fees will be redone and sent back out. It's caused chaos at the Flood Protection Authority and now the director is making sure the fee gets back on the right track.

When Fred Sarrs of Kingston received his Luzerne County levee fee, he knew something was wrong. "They threw me into the group with big commercial buildings generating a lot of income and i don't generate anything out of it," said Sarrs.

Sarrs says his property was improperly labeled commercial, rather than residential. In some cases, the fee difference is about $200. Sarrs thinks he belongs in a group of about 12 homeowners that received incorrect levee fees.

After the bills were sent last week, Flood Protection Authority Director Jim Brozena started getting calls. "I'm still pulling messages off my voicemail," said Brozena.

Brozena says the incorrect fees mostly applied to apartments and double block homes. Many were placed in a commercial fee category.

The Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority created the fee to upkeep the levee system. 12 communities will have to pay it.

Brozena says letters will be sent to everyone that received a fee in the mail. He hopes everyone will eventually be correctly charged. Brozena said, "We're doing the best we can with what we have to get back to them and hopefully the letter will address most of their concerns and if we have some questions after we receive that then surely call us."