Tax Increase Sought To Fund Sacramento Area Levee Upgrades

(AP) - The agency charged with protecting the flood-prone Sacramento region from a catastrophic deluge is seeking a property tax increase to fund upgrades to the local levee system.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency plans to ask its governing board on Thursday to endorse an assessment that would add an average of $42 to the $57 Sacramento homeowners currently pay for flood control.

Executive Director Rick Johnson says the money would go toward shoring up levees along the Sacramento River from the city's downtown to an area about 8 miles to the south.

Johnson says the work is needed to satisfy new safety standards the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set after the deadly levee failure in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Property owners would have to approve the tax increase in a special election.