By Mark Fischenich
The Free Press
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Local government officials are using catastrophic language in describing the anticipated slashing of state aid to cities and counties, but it’s inevitable that some of those communities will be facing literal disasters in coming years.
State Rep. Terry Morrow is hoping lawmakers will agree to set up a state-level disaster fund to make sure those cities and counties can get timely help to deal with the floods, tornados or other natural disasters that happen every year somewhere in Minnesota.
“When a tornado strikes, I don’t want to have to wait for 201 legislators to return to St. Paul in order to help our local towns and counties,” said Morrow, DFL-St. Peter.
For major disasters, federal funding tends to come quickly. But the threshold for disaster aid to local governments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is $6.2 million or more in damage to public infrastructure not covered by insurance.
Damage below that level is still a serious financial problem for most counties and cities, and the Legislature often is willing to help through the passage of special legislation. Barring the governor calling a special session, though, any help has to wait until the next regular legislative session.
“The example I’d give is Le Sueur County and Lake Emily,” Morrow said.
In August 2006, a tornado filled the small lake just east of St. Peter with materials from demolished homes and farm structures. The county wanted to hire divers to remove the debris but was uncertain if it would get any assistance paying the bill, said Le Sueur County Administrator Darrell Pettis.
“Since you don’t reach that FEMA threshold of dollars lost, you really don’t get help from anybody,” Pettis said.
Rep. Laura Brod and then-Sen. Tom Neuville, the Republican lawmakers representing Le Sueur County, pushed for state help for the lake cleanup. They got $75,000 into a budget bill, saw it vetoed, got it into a later bill and ultimately received the governor’s approval in late May.
By the time the money was provided and a team of six professional divers hired, it was May 2008 before the cleanup was accomplished — nearly 21 months after the tornado struck.
The items removed didn’t turn out to be particularly toxic, but there were numerous sharp-edged items that could have been dangerous for boaters and swimmers.
“We did find a couple of Dumpsters, docks, a lot of large objects,” said Ann Traxler, the county emergency management director.
If Morrow is successful in creating the Minnesota Disaster Local Assistance Program, the director of the state’s emergency management department would be authorized to provide grants to local governments in a matter of weeks or even days.
A 10 percent local match is required, making it more likely local governments would limit their grant requests to high-priority projects. The legislation also requires reports to legislators about all grants issued.
Morrow said other lawmakers are willing to get behind the concept of the program. With the state facing a $1 billion shortfall, the support for filling the fund with $6 million isn’t quite so strong.
“I think I’m going to have trouble finding $6 million,” he said.
His current strategy is to get $1 million, aimed at providing quick funding to meet required matches for federal funds. He hopes to create the full-fledged fund in future years if the smaller program works well.
To Morrow, the creation of the disaster fund isn’t additional spending as much as a savings account to cover expenses that taxpayers at the state or local level are certain to incur sometime in the future.
“The question is, do we pay immediately when the disaster occurs or do we wait a year?” he said. “That’s the question.”
