Require drain petitioners and government officials to substantiate the need for projects. Apportion the highest project costs to the sources of the greatest land use changes. The Drain Code allows county officials to shift the stormwater costs associated with development to longtime residents. H.B. 4803 expands the old Drain Code's tax reach to these heretofore untapped revenue sources. Once a project is found necessary, county drain commissioners have a virtual blank check for costly and damaging projects.
Cuts appeals off too early.
In the Hayworth case, residents had no essential information until one year after their last chance to appeal the narrow question of necessity. H.B. 4803 allows only 14 days early on in the processbefore engineering studies or cost estimatesfor citizens to appeal. See five case studies of Drain Code abuses.