Iowa County assesses tax for river project

MARENGO — The Iowa County Board of Supervisors approved a special assessment last month to pay for a future project on the Iowa River.

As the river cuts into the bank, it moves closer to Marengo’s levee. Prevention measures are still a few years away, but the county will begin collecting money for the project now to avoid having a single, large tax increase later.

“If we don’t have a levee, you won’t have a town,” said McMeen.

The county has insufficient funds to pay for the needed levee stabilization and repair work and associated engineering fees, says the resolution approved by the Board of Supervisors Aug. 29.

The county will levy a special assessment against property in Drainage Districts 10 and 12 to cover the costs.

“Right now we’ve been told that this project could be anywhere from $850,000 to $1.1 million,” County Attorney Tim McMeen told county supervisors.

“And right now we’re going to explore other funding options that are out there, but we don’t know of any at this point.” McMeen said.

“We’re quite a ways away from where this is going to do anything to jeopardize our levee in the sense that the Corps [of Engineers] going to get excited about it,” said McMeen.

Preplanning will take a year or so according to engineers he’s talked to, said McMeen, and the project will take about three months to complete.

According to the resolution, real estate included in the Drainage Districts but outside the corporate limits of Marengo, excluding residential property, will be assessed at $4 per acre; primary road 212 will be assessed at $25; and corporate property will be assessed on the valuation as fixed by the Iowa State Tax Commission at the same rate as property within the corporate limits.

Property in the corporate limits and within the districts, including residential property outside the corporate limits (excluding exempt corporate property) will be assessed at $2.20 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.

Tax exempt corporate property within the districts will be assessed on the basis of $10 per lot.

The $2.20 per $1,000 of taxable valuation will raise about $225,000 a year for the next five years, or $1.125 million over five years, said McMeen.

The Drainage District has a “sizable amount” money right now, said McMeen, but it has debt service and other expenses. “You never know what’s going to come up that’s going to create some more expenses,” McMeen said.

“But it’s a lot better to build this over time versus coming here once and asking for all the money at once,” said McMeen. “It would be horrible if we had to do this all at once.”

“It’s better to look five years ahead instead of next month,” said Supervisor Kevin Heitshusen.

“We’d like to wait four years to start the project if we can so we know we’ve got the money there, we know we don’t have any issues,” said McMeen. “But part of that’s going to depend on what the river does,” he said.

“This isn’t necessarily anything with the levee itself, but it's what could impact the levee if we don’t do the work,” said McMeen.

“It’s just a necessary evil,” said Supervisor Abby Maas. “I don’t see anyway around it. … It’s crazy how much that river moves.”

Travis Schlabach, Drainage District superintendent, presented aerial photos that show how the bank is eroding. “It’s not an emergency,” Schlabach said, but even when the water was low, the county lost three or four feet of bank.

According to Schlabach, the project will be similar to what is being done on Old Man’s Creek in southern Iowa County. The county will put riprap down in the bottom where the current cuts at the bank, said Schlabach. It’s not going to riprap the whole thing, he said.

This is the closest the river comes to the levee, said Schlabach, but it’s a long ways away.

“I am going to want Brandy [Enochson, Iowa County Auditor], to put this money in a separate account,” said McMeen. That will ensure that the money is not spent elsewhere and will be available when it’s needed.