Corbett: Cedar Rapids may ask voters to pass flood tax if aid doesn’t come

CEDAR RAPIDS - CRST International President John Smith kept it simple when speaking to the third ranking Republican in the U.S. House during a walking tour along the Cedar River on Thursday.

'We just need protection,” Smith told U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, who is the House majority whip.

Smith, who spearheaded a nearly $40 million new CRST Center on the river that incorporates a flood wall into its foundation, joined Scalise, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-Dubuque, to discuss flood protection.

Cedar Rapids officials have high hopes Scalise has the clout to get the Water Resources Development Act passed before the next president takes office. This is a key piece of legislation - as it is currently proposed - that prioritizes federal aid for Cedar Rapids, along with two flood projects in Louisiana.

Corbett said if the WRDA bill passes, the city would lobby the next president to put the Cedar Rapids project in the federal budget. However, if the efforts don't pan out by next April or May, the city once again may try to ask voters to pass a tax levy to cover flood protection costs. Voters rejected the tax twice earlier this decade.

'If we can't, I think it is important to go back to the citizens of Cedar Rapids and say we've tried every route and avenue that we've known to get money from the state and federal government, and we've come to dead ends,” Corbett told reporters during the tour. 'I think we have to have a good discussion with the citizens of Cedar Rapids, and there may be a time next year that we have to go back to the voters and see if they want to support flood protection and maybe have a third vote.”

Scalise, standing by the McGrath Amphitheatre, which has the dual function of entertainment venue and a berm in the flood protection system, said he 'strongly” supports the WRDA bill. He called it 'realistic” and said it is likely the bill will receive approval during the 'lame duck” session of Congress before the next president takes office.

Scalise spoke optimistically about Cedar Rapids chances of getting the money because of the cost-share dynamic. Cedar Rapids had been authorized for $70 million to $80 million under the 2014 WRDA bill, which is less than a quarter of the projected $625 million flood protection system.

That system would include flood walls, berms, pumps and gates to shield properties on both banks of the river.

'A big hurdle has been achieved by the fact that you have such a large amount of local money in place,” Scalise said.

Congress has helped free additional money in the past two years for the Army Corps of Engineers, which would release the funds for Cedar Rapids by taking away money from the Environmental Protection Agency and its 'radical regulations,” Scalise said.

It also removed several competing but lower priority projects from the pool eligible for funding, he added.

'You don't have this multibillion-dollar backlog that seems to hold projects back,” Scalise said.

However, he acknowledged the cost benefit - the cost of protection versus the value of property protected - remains a challenge for Cedar Rapids. Less valuable land in the Midwest compared to costal areas hurts the chances of cities such as Cedar Rapids for obtaining federal money.

'We'll never be able to compete with real estate values” of higher-priced metropolitan statistical areas, Blum said, echoing a sentiment from last week's debate.

Blum said developing a divided funding stream - split between larger and smaller communities - could be a solution to help Cedar Rapids and similar, smaller-sized cities.