Cedar Rapids city officials received good news on two fronts this week: the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved $13.8 million to cover flood damage to the city’s hydroelectric plant in 2008, and the Iowa legislature approved a bill to help local governments fund flood mitigation efforts.
Coming up on the fourth anniversary of the massive Cedar River flood, I was surprised to learn that several appeals by city officials for additional FEMA funds are still outstanding. The University of Iowa also has unresolved disputes with FEMA over recovery money for 2008 flood damage on campus in Iowa City.
Still, $13.8 million is a nice chunk of change for the city of Cedar Rapids. FEMA denied the city’s request for those funds as well as the city’s first appeal of that denial.
The central point of dispute over the city’s hydroelectric plant, which was disabled at the time of the 2008 flood, was whether the city, in fact, had been reviewing options to repair the plant at the time of the flood.
In its second appeal to FEMA headquarters, which was filed last May, the city was able to show that it was “moving in the direction” of fixing the plant when the flood hit, Michael Cappannari, external affairs officers at FEMA’s regional office in Kansas City, Mo., said Tuesday afternoon. […]
[Cedar Rapids flood recovery and reinvestment director Joe] O’Hern said the city now will talk to FEMA about how it can use the $13 million in disaster money. The option most discussed by the city in the past has been to use the funds for an alternate improved project rather than for restoring the hydroelectric plant. The city can use 90 percent of the funds if it chooses the option of an alternate improved project, O’Hern said. He said the city likely will have some latitude in using the funds in that way.
Also on April 3, a bipartisan majority in the Iowa House approved Senate File 2217.
SF 2217 would create a Flood Mitigation Program administered by a state board. The board could allow communities to retain growth in sales tax revenues over a period of time or provide state aid from a state flood fund for communities without sales tax growth. The program requires a 50 percent local match.
As much as $30 million a year could be diverted from general fund sales tax revenues, with as much as $15 million available for any one project.
Although it appears Cedar Rapids is the most likely community to be able to take advantage of the legislation, supporters emphasized its statewide application and merit as sound flood protection policy. […]
Even in the case of Cedar Rapids, the benefit of flood protection will have a wider impact, said Rep. Nate Willems, D-Lisbon. Although communities in his district were not directly impacted, many residents of the district work in Cedar Rapids. Flood protection there will protect their jobs.
“The longer we wait, the longer time goes by, we’re simply rolling the dice with thousands and thousands of jobs in Cedar Rapids that if another flood were to hit that community I don’t think would come back,” he said.
Senate File 2217 had the backing of the Iowa League of Cities and Iowa Association of Counties, both of which helped stop legislation designed to improve floodplain management during the 2010 legislative session. Lawmakers continue to ignore most of the floodplain management recommendations from the Water Resources Coordinating Council, developed in response to the 2008 flooding.
James Q. Lynch alluded to “organized opposition to the bill, especially in regard to accountability,” but no lobbyists registered against Senate File 2217, not even the usual anti-tax suspects. The bill passed the Iowa Senate by 50 votes to 0 in late February. The Iowa House approved the bill by 76 votes to 23 (roll call in this pdf file). All but three House Democrats supported the bill; the dissenters were Phyllis Thede, Rick Olson, and Cindy Winckler. Most of the 60 House Republicans also voted yes. The following 20 opposed Senate File 2217: Dwayne Alons, Chip Baltimore, Clel Baudler, Josh Byrnes, Joel Fry, Pat Grassley, Stew Iverson, Ron Jorgenson, Jarad Klein, Kim Pearson, Dawn Pettengill, Dan Rasmussen, Tom Sands, Jason Schultz, Tom Shaw, Jeff Smith, Chuck Soderberg, Jeremy Taylor, Guy Vander Linden, and Ralph Watts.
Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett hailed passage of Senate File 2217 as “absolutely great news”:
“We should celebrate the fact that we were able to get the legislature, in such a bipartisan way during an election year, to pass legislation that helps out Cedar Rapids but it helps out the whole state. Building a large infrastructure project like a flood protection system takes partners like the federal and state government.”
The state legislation, which was is in large measure designed by Corbett and other Cedar Rapids city leaders, establishes a program that allows communities with local matching dollars to tap into the incremental increase in state sales tax collected in their communities for use in fixing or building flood protection systems.
Cedar Rapids voters have twice rejected local-option sales tax initiatives designed to finance flood prevention projects. The most recent referendum took place last month. Speaking to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Corbett said other kinds of local funding could be used to match state funds for flood mitigation projects.
By way of example, Corbett imagined that the city could look to commit a large portion of the $3 million in revenue it takes in a year from traffic enforcement cameras for 10 years to use as matching local funds to qualify for state dollars. The local and state funds together might provide $40 million over 10 years, which is an amount that could satisfy the match requirement of non-federal funds to help build the Corps’ $104-million east-side flood-protection system, adding more-expensive, removable flood walls through the downtown to the Corps’ plan, he said. […]
The mayor said the Iowa Legislature’s action, if approved by the governor, also will put the city in an enviable position as it approaches Congress to try to secure essential federal funding to complete design and to construct the Corps’ east-side flood-protection plan.
Earlier this week, the Iowa House approved a bill banning traffic law enforcement cameras, but for now it’s safe for Corbett to keep thinking about ways to use that revenue. Leaders of key Iowa Senate committees don’t plan to take action on the traffic camera ban this session.
Governor Terry Branstad hasn’t spoken out against Senate File 2217, so I assume he will sign the bill into law. I am seeking confirmation from his office.
UPDATE: Branstad’s communications director Tim Albrecht told me on April 6 that the governor has not commented on this bill and wants to review its final form before deciding whether to sign it. Backers of Senate File 2217 probably should make some phone calls to the governor’s office next week.
Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.
P.S. Based on this April 3 press release from Representative Bruce Braley’s office, I would not be surprised to see FEMA money for Cedar Rapids feature in some of Braley’s re-election materials later this year. The new first Congressional district, where Braley is seeking a fourth term, includes Linn County. The bolded section below was emphasized in the original.
Cedar Rapids, IA – Today, Rep. Braley announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved $13.8 million dollars for the City of Cedar Rapids, to help recover from the floods of 2008.
The approval overturns a previous denial of these same funds. Rep. Braley has been pushing FEMA for months, including on calls with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, to reverse their earlier decision and approve these funds.
“These recovery funds are long overdue. I’m glad that after years of fighting through government red tape, we’re seeing real progress in getting federal funds to Cedar Rapids to help with the recovery,” said Braley. “This investment will create jobs and further help the Cedar Rapids community move forward after the tragic disasters four years ago.”
The funding will allow the City to repair the hydroelectric power plant, which was initially damaged in severe weather in 2007, and then further damaged during the floods of 2008. FEMA also announced today that funding has been denied for a second, much smaller project, to remove concrete slabs.
LATE UPDATE: Branstad signed this bill on April 19.