FLOOD RESPONSE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT FISCAL REINS

Q. When is a mobile home hunting shack worth $50,000 and dirt field paths worth $100,000?

A. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is trying to justify rebuilding levees damaged in the record Missouri floods of 1993.

The Columbia Daily Tribune in mid-Missouri reported that the corps routinely overvalued property that the rebuilt levees were supposed to protect.

Corps officials said fast decisions based on pre-flood records had to be made to speed up repairs. More than $45.7 million in taxpayer money has been spent to repair levees in 110 Missouri River districts since 1993.

In order to qualify for federal levee protection, the economic benefit of the property protected must be worth more than the cost of levee repairs. At least that is the way it is supposed to work.

But in at least one instance, when the value of flooded farm land didn't reach corps standards, farmers submitted inflated land values to justify the levee-repair work. The corps accepted the amounts without question.

If that weren't enough, since 1993 thousands of acres protected by the repaired levees have been bought -- also by taxpayers -- for public wetlands in which flooding isn't a problem.

The government itself provided the best evidence that the property values were inflated. In an area north of Jefferson City called Cedar City, the corps relied on old information in overestimating the number of homes affected by flooding. They estimated there were 174 Cedar City homes at a value of $50,000 each. But local officials say there were only about 125 homes. As to their value, a government-backed buyout program appraised the Cedar City properties at a pre-flood value of $20,000 to $30,000 each.

In fairness to corps officials, the 1993 disaster was an emergency that required a rapid response. Officials may be excused for cutting some corners when it came to appraising property already devastated by the flooding.

But they -- along with far too many bureaucrats -- seem to have forgotten one thing: It's not their money. It is money Americans have earned only to have it taken away and handed over for levee repairs and flood buyouts.

Forcing taxpayers to pay for levees damaged by a record flood is one thing. Exaggerating costs to justify repairs that might not be needed is another. Corps action following the record flood of 1993 only increases the public's skepticism and distrust of government.