Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is seeking $200 million in long-term state financial aid to help pay the costs of a $375 million flood-control project to protect the city from another disaster similar to the floods of 2008.
The Des Moines Register reported that the proposal would essentially provide Cedar Rapids with a $200 million rebate over a period of years on a portion of the future growth of state sales taxes in Linn County.
Mayor Ron Corbett, in a meeting with Register reporters and editors, said he has met with Iowa legislative leaders about the city’s need for assistance, and he hopes lawmakers will establish a study group to address the flood-control project.
“There will not be flood protection unless the state is player,” he said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved plans for a flood-control project on the east side of the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids, leaving the west side unprotected. The federal government will provide $65 million in federal money for flood-control on the east side of the river, instead of a larger sum if work was supported on both sides.
The corps, which endorsed the flood plan in November, must follow a rigid benefit-cost ratio, which requires that the expense of the system protect at least as much value in property as the system costs to build.
City leaders believe it’s crucial to protect both sides of the river.
“I don’t think you will see investment on either side of the river without flood protection. People need to have that security and confidence to reinvest in the core of Cedar Rapids,” Corbett said.
The 2008 flood caused about $10 billion in damage statewide, including $6 billion in Cedar Rapids.
City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said local leaders believe they are fighting for Cedar Rapids.
“This is about the survival of the second-largest city in Iowa,” Pomeranz said. Des Moines is Iowa’s largest city.
Cedar Rapids is asking residents to provide a fair share of the project cost. A referendum will be held May 3 to allow residents to vote on extending a 1 percent local option-sales tax through 2034. The revenue would generate $170 million for flood protection and $170 million for roads, Corbett said.
Some progress has been made since the flood. About 700 homes have been purchased on a buyout list of about 1,300 properties. But work on rebuilding city buildings has been put on the back burner, and city officials aren’t even close to 50 percent in rebuilding flood-damage public facilities, Corbett said.
Information from: The Des Moines Register
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