Mosquito abatement survey to reach homes by February

By February, a sampling of Southeastern Tulare County residents will be surveyed to assess their willingness to pay to get rid of mosquitoes.

The disease-carrying insects would be controlled by the Tulare Mosquito Abatement District — one of the county’s few special jurisdictions whose sole function is to control the pests.

The Tulare Mosquito Abatement District has paid $3,000 to create a survey that will be reviewed by the Porterville City Council on Jan. 19.

“The people have a chance to look at this and tell us what they want,” Fifth District Supervisor Mike Ennis said. “If it’s not approved, and they come back to us later, we can tell them they had their chance.”

Areas without abatement districts are not forced to meet any sort of public health codes related to mosquitoes, so if residents desire enforcement, which costs money, the local government must ask affected property owners to vote on the proposed assessment fees.

The proposed annual assessment rates are:

- $15 for a single family residence

- $3 for vacant residential land

- $0.13 per acre of agricultural land

- $0.03 per acre of rangeland or pasture land

“You can’t go to McDonald’s for that price. I don’t like taxes either, but this is a public health hazard,” Ennis said. “I have more than one parcel that I’ll be paying for, too. ”

Surveys will be distributed to a random selection of property owners in Lindsay, Porterville, Springville, Strathmore, Terra Bella and surrounding unincorporated Southeastern Tulare County.

If they are in favor of the idea by a majority of 60 percent, all of the property owners within the proposed district will be mailed a ballot. They must approve it by a clear majority in order to form the district.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 218, to protect taxpayers by limiting the methods by which local governments can create or increase taxes, fees and charges without taxpayer consent.

The proposition requires voter approval prior to imposing or increasing of taxes, assessments, and certain user fees, such as the possible creation of a new (or extension of an existing) mosquito abatement district.

In this case, if the majority prevails, the Tulare Mosquito Abatement District will absorb the initial costs for providing services— a decision that was made Monday.

“Basically this has nothing to do with city government, it’s about the landowners,” Mayor Pete McCracken said.
Originally, the cities and county were to pay the district $27,500 for the services, with Porterville paying $13,000 based on its population size.

According to the drafted survey, Southeastern Tulare County is “among the last remaining population centers in California that [does] not receive any comprehensive mosquito control services.”

The most prevalent disease that mosquitoes carry is West Nile Virus, transmitted through mosquitoes who have drawn blood from infected birds. In serious cases it can lead to death, particularly with senior citizens, according to Tulare County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Haught.

So far in 2009, nine people have contracted West Nile Virus. Four of those people – from Springville, Tulare, Dinuba, and Earlimart – were hospitalized, according to the Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency.
There are other viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, but they are rarer, Haught added.

“Mosquito bites are a nuisance and can cause serious skin infections,” she said.

District staff would control mosquitoes by eliminating their larvae in stagnant and standing water, where mosquitoes breed. They would also respond to property owner service requests within 24 hours, and provide free mosquito-eating fish for backyard ponds and other water features, according to the survey.

In 1968, the city councils of Lindsay and Porterville rejected inclusion within a proposed Foothill Mosquito Abatement District. The district was never formed, because it was deemed financially unfeasible without city participation.

More recently, forming an abatement district in Southeastern Tulare County, or joining with another one, has been discussed since 2005, when the Tulare County Grand Jury report addressed the lack thereof.

A more determined effort resulted with an initiative by the Local Agency Formation Committee. The county-wide committee responsible for determining the formation of special districts created a subcommittee devoted to the mosquito issue in the Fall of 2008, leading cities and the county to where it is today.

In June, the city council opted to support the production of a property owner survey.

“My personal experience is that I’ve never noticed a mosquito problem where I live in Porterville,” McCracken said. “I’m sure there is somewhere around the city, and on the outskirts.”

Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.