Flood control price hike for thousands of Ohioans could be delayed

The Great Miami River running lazily beside Sherry Hoskins's business Petals and Wicks has become the bane of her existence in recent weeks.

The infrastructure that keeps the river inside its banks through Hamilton, built and maintained by the Miami Conservancy District, suddenly threatened to get so expensive to maintain she feared she'd be put out of business.

"There's no way we can sustain the increases," Hoskins said.

The conservancy district has been reevaluating assessments for flood protections based on modern property values along the Greater Miami flood plain and Spooky Nook was hit with a price increase of more than 50 times over the previous bill set in 2012.

Hoskins said all three of her properties would face an increase, but the Spooky Nook valuation shocked her.

"Like a ton of bricks — literally. My husband and I, we've been doing this for seven and a half years," she said.

The conservancy district's footprint spans tens of thousands of properties including Middletown, Hamilton, Fairfield, Cleves and more.

General Manager Marylynn Lodor said the district's mission is to protect the life and property across every inch of that land, and that has been getting more difficult.

Lodor said there has been a 228% increase in annual flood events in the last 80 years.

"That, coupled with the fact that our infrastructure is more than 100 years old, it's having to work harder than it has," she said.

Even with the increased demand for revenue, Lodor said she would be calling for the MCD Board to pause their price reassessment.

"We understand that many many people are surprised by the numbers," she said.

The move followed heated backlash at Hamilton board meetings and a letter from well over a dozen legislators calling for the pause.

"I can't speak for the board until they give me that direction," Lodor said, "but I'm going to be making that recommendation to the board."

Hoskins said she was pleased that the board could reevaluate their assessments based on calls from the public.

The City of Middletown has called a special meeting for Monday at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers to discuss the assessments.

A special meeting of the Miami Conservancy District has been scheduled for the Hamilton City Council chambers.

Lodor said she would make her recommendation to the board at that meeting.

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