State money to help with Moorhead's flood protection

Moorhead, Minn. (WDAY TV) - While we've been hearing a lot about Fargo’s plans and it seems to be full steam ahead on flood protection, across the river Moorhead is keeping up. Mayor Voxland says there will be no sales tax put in place to cover protection costs, instead the money will come from the state of Minnesota, and WDAY 6 Reporter TJ Nelson has more.

Tonight, Mayor Voxland and other city leaders from Moorhead and Fargo met with leaders from the Army Corps of Engineers. They're working on a solution for the flooding problem and have a tight schedule.

Voxland says he's not sure what the plan will be yet, but he says whatever it is, Governor Pawlenty has told him the state will back it up. He says it's important to have that security because whatever the plan is, it will be expensive and people in Moorhead will have to help foot the bill.

For now, the Army Corps will continue its survey and in 16 months a flood plan will be announced.

“2010 December is when we're going to hear from the Corps of Engineers what the project is, and that's the point we'll go to the state legislature and say OK, these are the dollars we're going to need.”

There's a two year moratorium on changing sales tax for cities in Minnesota so the earliest Moorhead could have a similar vote would be 2011.