Local officials have apparently given a free pass to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for wasting seven years and $2.8 million to study flood control for the metro area.

After being told by the agency's Vicksburg District that it would lose $133 million in federal funding if it didn't support the levee plan, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District (levee board) voted 5-2 to build levees, not lakes, on the Pearl.

The decision came months after the agency admitted that it never studied the Two Lakes Flood Control and Economic Development Plan, the proposal that it was brought on to study, nor did it have any intention of giving the proposal a fair shot.

So let's get this straight. Instead of the corps being forced to do what it has already been paid to do, the board is now being strong-armed into supporting a plan that won't protect Jackson?

Where's the accountability? Better yet, where's the levee board's backbone? Shouldn't it challenge the corps' legal authority to cut off the millions in funding?

The board would likely be supported if it stood up for the taxpayers it represents.

The Mississippi Legislature has twice denied state funding to build levees. And the federal congressional delegation has shown support for funding a lakes project.

So what's the problem? Does the levee board enjoy being bullied around? It's acting like an elementary student who smiles when the bigger kid takes away his lunch money.

And what's worse is they've voted for a plan that will provide few benefits to the state capital. The levee system didn't work in 1979 and 1983, and it likely won't work this time around.

The corps' own estimates show that it would only reduce flooding by 77 percent.

Supporters of the Two Lakes proposal say their plan would cost $336 million and reduce the risk of flooding in Jackson by 99 percent. It would also be able to pay for itself. It would create two large lakes along the river and more than 100 miles of developable shoreline.

The levee plan, on the other hand, would require a significant tax increase to fund its construction. It calls for the bolstering of the levee system that's already in place.

The project would cost $206 million. Another $90 million would be needed to add pumps along Town and Lynch creeks to prevent backwater from flooding downtown.

Naturally, the levee board would allow the people of Hinds and Rankin to be pushed around as well. Dallas Quinn, spokesman for the Two Lakes Foundation, said taxes would have to go up 10 or 15 mills across Hinds and Rankin counties to cover its construction.

According to the Mississippi Development Authority's Web site, property is generally assessed at 15 percent of its true value and multiplied by the millage rate to determine the tax rate.

Quinn doesn't believe that residents in the outskirts of both counties will want to pay for a project that won't benefit them. That assumption is probably correct.

Unlike the levee board, most voters don't like their money being wasted. And if it comes down to a vote, they'll let the corps know it at the ballot box.