Butler Co. drainage district wants land tax to fight mosquitoes

Daily American Republic

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- The board of Drainage District No. 10 in southern Butler County is proposing a flat tax on acreage to fund ditch-clearing efforts.

Richard Webster, president of the board, said the district will have to make a court petition to put the $2-per-acre tax on the April ballot. The district has about 23,000 acres and 19 miles of ditches.

Webster believes clearing out all the ditches would help eliminate the mosquito problem at Neelyville.

"They found the West Nile virus in mosquitoes west of Neelyville on Highway 142. Drainage is more important now than ever," Webster said.

Webster said the money the district receives each year -- about $26,000 -- is not enough to maintain the ditches, let alone dredge them.

For example, Webster said since spring the district has already spent $12,000 to clear dozens of trees, some of them 30 inches in diameter, out of half of a two-mile ditch west of Neelyville.

"Once we spend $26,000, we have to wait until next year to do more work," Webster said.

The district receives taxes under the cost benefit system, where landowners closest to the ditch pay more than others. Taxes range from 50 cents to $1 an acre.