Port Avalon’s city council approved a $310 million emergency flood levy just after midnight on Tuesday, ending a nine-hour session that drew more than 200 public speakers and, at one point, a fire marshal’s warning about overcrowding.
The levy, passed 7–4, adds an average of $14 a month to household water bills for six years. The money will go first to the eastern seawall, which engineers said in August could fail under a storm surge of the kind that hit the city twice last winter.
“Nobody up here wanted to vote for a new bill tonight,” said Council President Rosa Delgado. “But the alternative is a seawall that our own engineers say they cannot certify. We are not going to gamble with people’s homes.”
What the levy pays for
About two-thirds of the money is earmarked for the eastern seawall and the pumping stations behind it. The remainder funds drainage upgrades in the Lowmarsh and Harbour Point neighborhoods, which flooded three times in 2025.
We are not going to gamble with people’s homes.
Rosa Delgado, council president
Opponents argued the levy falls hardest on renters, who will see the charge passed through by landlords. Councillor Ben Osei, who voted against, said the council should have pursued state infrastructure funds first. “We had options, and we didn’t exhaust them,” he told reporters after the vote.
Mayor Elaine Ko is expected to sign the measure on Wednesday. Work on the seawall could begin as soon as November, according to the city’s public works department.