Water-Weary Residents Fear Soaking From Tax

After years of putting up with soaking lawns and algae-streaked sidewalks, a group of residents is balking at a proposal to levy a special tax to fix a ground-water problem.

For more than six years water has been percolating through the soil in the Sutter Avenue area, turning yards into bogs and cracking driveways. To fix the situation, city officials have proposed creating a tax assessment district to pay to have the water drained.

But for the estimated 200 property owners affected by the soggy conditions, a special assessment could run as high as $1,500 a year for 20 years. As a result, the proposal has angered residents who believe the problem was well known to both the city and county and that it should have been remedied before the area was developed.

“If the county knew about it and the city knew about it [then it] doesn’t seem like we should have to pay for it,” said Sutter Avenue resident Don Lobato at Monday’s council meeting. “It’s a preexisting problem that we were never told about.”

Lobato was one of several residents who spoke against the proposal to create the special tax during the meeting, after the council was presented with the latest report on the water problem. To date, the city has spent about $90,000 on a string of studies on how to fix the situation.

The latest study, conducted by the Source Group, identified a number of ways to drain the water, including drilling wells and pumping the water into the neighborhood’s storm drains, pumping the water into the Arroyo Simi and other channels or to simply do nothing. Council members directed staff on Monday to organize a meeting with Sutter Avenue residents to discuss the options as well as other ways of resolving the situation.

“This is the next step in the process,” said Councilwoman Sandi Webb. “We have no idea what all the residents in that area want and it’s important that we find out before any decision is made.”

Council members also asked staff to begin looking for another way to pay for the project, which could run as high as $3.2 million. Though residents have the final say on whether an assessment district should be created, city officials said that if no federal grant money becomes available they would urge residents to support a special district.

Understanding that paying $1,500 a year may be a hardship for many residents, council members said they would also consider extending the assessment period over as many as 40 years to help offset the cost.

“Getting some federal money would be great, but if that doesn’t happen then I think there’s a way we could make this work by spreading out the number of assessment years,” said Councilman Paul Miller.