Federal CDBG Dollars Released for Iowa Flood Recovery

Press Release

Federal CDBG Dollars Released for Iowa Flood Recovery

Senator Chuck Grassley released the comment below regarding an announcement made today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that Iowa will receive $71,690,815 from the agency's final distribution of a congressional appropriation made last summer for Community Development Block Grants to assist with recovery in Iowa and other states from storms and flooding.

Senator Grassley said that additional federal money for Community Development Block Grants and direct assistance through other federal programs will be coming to Iowa from a second emergency spending bill passed by Congress before it adjourned for the fall election.

"Congress provided these funds last June to help with repair costs for uninsured and underinsured property beyond what FEMA and the Small Business Administration can provide. These dollars will make a difference for so many people in Iowa who are still waiting to find out if they'll be able to rebuild their homes and businesses. The recovery process is so hard, and every delay, whether it's been in Congress or in the bureaucracy, makes it more difficult, so it's a relief to see these dollars released today and on their way to the people who need help."

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, today's allocation will bring Iowa's total allocation to $156.7 million from the $300 million Congress approved in June for emergency disaster assistance.

The news release issued today by the Department of Housing and Urban Development is below, along with previous Grassley statements and HUD news releases about disaster assistance for Iowa.

Department of Housing and Urban Development - Steve Preston, Secretary

Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20410

HUD No. 08-168 FOR RELEASE

Brian Sullivan Monday

(202) 708-0685 October 27, 2008

http://www.hud.gov/news/index.cfm

PRESTON ANNOUNCES REMAINING $200 MILLION IN DISASTER ASSISTANCE

TO 15 STATES IMPACTED BY STORMS AND FLOODING

Grants allocated based on unmet housing, business and infrastructure needs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston today allocated $200 million to 15 states affected by natural disasters. The emergency funding is provided through HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and will help support each states' long-term disaster recovery and critical infrastructure needs.

On August 4, 2008, Preston made initial allocations totaling $100 million to the State of Iowa ($85 million); the State of Indiana ($10 million); and to the State of Wisconsin ($5 million). Today, Preston announced the final allocations to the following states:

Iowa $ 71,690,815 (for a total allocation of $156.7 million)

Indiana $ 57,012,966 (for a total allocation of $67 million)

Wisconsin $ 19,057,378 (for a total allocation of $24 million)

Illinois $ 17,341,434

Missouri $ 11,032,438

Nebraska $ 5,557,736

Arkansas $ 4,747,501

West Virginia $ 3,127,935

Mississippi $ 2,281,287

Maine $ 2,187,114

South Dakota $ 1,987,271

Oklahoma $ 1,793,876

Minnesota $ 925,926

Montana $ 666,672

Colorado $ 589,651

"This funding will help these states along the path to long-term recovery," said Preston. "Whether it's restoring damaged housing, assisting struggling businesses or rebuilding infrastructure, HUD stands ready to assist these states in the difficult process of recovering from the recent natural disasters."

Last June, Congress appropriated $300 million in emergency disaster assistance and directed HUD to allocate the funding based on each state's unmet needs. Understanding that states must begin their long-term disaster recovery planning, HUD allocated a third of the emergency funds as quickly as possible based on the Department's initial damage assessment. Today, HUD allocated the remaining $200 million based upon more complete data and a thorough study of each state's unmet needs.

Recognizing that there continues to be unmet needs, HUD will allocate at least $2.2 billion more by the end of the year to states affected by disasters in 2008.

Iowa: Beginning in May 2008 and continuing through June 2008, the state of Iowa experienced severe storms, flooding and tornadoes. The state's unmet housing, business and infrastructure needs were so great, HUD initially allocated $85 million allowing Iowa to begin the necessary recovery planning process. Today's $71.7 million allocation brings HUD's total investment in Iowa to nearly $156.7 million, or more than half of the total $300 million emergency appropriation.

Indiana: In June 2008, several Indiana counties were declared federal disaster areas based on severe storms and flooding. Combined with the $10 million HUD allocated to Indiana in August 2008, the state's total allocation is more than $67 million or just shy of a quarter of the total funding Congress appropriated in emergency assistance.

Wisconsin: Beginning in early June 2008, severe storms, flooding and tornadoes raked the lower half of Wisconsin causing damage to the state's housing stock, business community and infrastructure. Today's allocation of more than $19 million, combined with $5 million allocated in August 2008, brings Wisconsin's total allocation to more than $24 million or eight percent of the total emergency supplemental appropriation.

Illinois: In June 2008 and continuing, the state of Illinois experienced severe storms and flooding in two northern counties as well as many communities along the Mississippi River, and along the eastern part of the state.

Missouri: Missouri suffered severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding in May 2008 and more storms and flooding in June 2008, prompting two Presidential disaster declarations.

Nebraska: In May 2008, the state of Nebraska experienced severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding.

Arkansas: On May 2, 2008, President Bush declared several Arkansas counties disaster areas due to severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that occurred earlier in the month.

West Virginia: In June 2008, several counties in West Virginia experienced severe storms, tornadoes, flooding, mudslides, and landslides.

Mississippi: Beginning in mid-March 2008, and for two months thereafter, several counties along the Mississippi River in Mississippi experienced severe storms and flooding. As a consequence, President Bush declared these counties major disaster areas on May 8, 2008.

Maine: For approximately two weeks, severe spring storms caused significant flooding in several counties in Maine. President Bush declared those counties federal disaster areas on May 8, 2008.

South Dakota: In May 2008, South Dakota experienced a severe winter storm and near record snowfall. President Bush declared several South Dakota counties disaster areas on May 22, 2008.

Oklahoma: From May 10-13, 2008, four Oklahoma counties experienced severe storms, tornadoes and flooding. On May 14, 2008 President Bush issued a major disaster declaration for Craig, Latimer, Ottawa, and Pittsburg Counties.

Minnesota: Beginning June 7, 2008, several counties in Minnesota were struck by severe storms and flooding. President Bush declared five southern counties along the Iowa border -- Cook, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, and Mower Counties -- as disaster areas on June 25.

Montana: On May 1-2, 2008, severe winter storms struck four counties in southeastern Montana. On June 13, President Bush declared Carter, Custer, Fallon, and Powder River Counties major disaster areas.

Colorado: On May 22, 2008, Larimer and Weld Counties were struck by severe storms and tornadoes.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

HUD's Methodology

On June 30, 2008, the Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008 was enacted into law, providing $300 million through HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program "for necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in areas covered by a declaration of major disaster as a result of recent natural disasters."

As there were no major declared disasters in April 2008, HUD limited eligibility to the 16 natural disasters that occurred and were declared by the President during May and June of this year. For those 16 natural disasters, HUD calculated "unmet needs" for housing, business, and infrastructure recovery. Based on data provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, HUD defined 'unmet needs' as follows:

Unmet housing needs. Number of housing units with unmet needs times the estimated cost to repair those units (less repair funds already provided by FEMA). Where:

* The number of owner-occupied units with unmet needs are units FEMA housing inspectors determined would require more than $8,000 to become habitable and were determined by FEMA to be eligible for a repair or replacement grant (up to $28,800).

* The number of rental units with unmet needs are units FEMA housing inspectors determined would require more than $8,000 to become habitable times the "unmet need rate" of owners. That is, if 50 percent of owner-occupied dwellings had damage not being covered by insurance or an SBA loan for a particular disaster, we assume that 50% of rental units had damage not covered by insurance or an SBA loan.

* The average cost to fully repair the home is based on the average real property damage repair costs determined by the Small Business Administration for its disaster loan program (less the repair grant amount from FEMA) for the subset of homes inspected by SBA. Because SBA is inspecting for full repair costs, it reflects the full cost to repair the home, which is generally more than the FEMA estimates on the cost to make the home habitable.

* Where the unmet housing needs are calculated using three "levels of FEMA damage" - $8,001 to $15,000; $15,001 to $28,800, and greater than $28,800.

Unmet business needs. Based on SBA disaster loans to businesses, HUD used the sum of real property and real content loss of small businesses not receiving an SBA disaster loan.

Unmet infrastructure needs. Based on FEMA data, HUD used the sum of the "non-Federal share" of costs estimated to be eligible for funding under FEMA's Public Assistance program.

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Reporters and Editors

RE: HUD approves Iowa Disaster Recovery Plan

DA: Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Senator Chuck Grassley today released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development accepted Iowa's $85 million disaster recovery plan. HUD had allocated the money to Iowa in August. This is an important step in getting the money released to Iowans. The grant agreements will now be signed, a line of credit will be established, and the environmental reviews will begin.

Following Grassley's statement is the press release from HUD.

"This is great news for Iowans. The state can continue making essential plans for the future and give people a little more certainty that help is on the way."

Here is the Housing and Urban Development press release.

Department of Housing and Urban Development - Steve Preston, Secretary

Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20410

HUD No. 08-144 FOR RELEASE

Brian Sullivan Tuesday

(202) 708-0685 September 23, 2008

http://www.hud.gov/news/index.cfm

PRESTON ACCEPTS $85 MILLION IOWA DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN

HUD funding to support housing, small business, and infrastructure programs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston today accepted an $85 million disaster plan from the State of Iowa to recover from severe storms, tornadoes and flooding earlier this year. Iowa intends to use the funding provided through HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to restore damaged and destroyed housing, to stimulate small business recovery, and to repair public infrastructure.

"These funds will help stimulate Iowa's housing market and small business community which are trying to recover from these terrible storms," said Preston. "I want to assure all Iowans that HUD will work very closely with Governor Culver and his recovery staff to expedite this long-term recovery process as much as humanly possible."

Last month, HUD allocated $85 million in supplemental CDBG funds to Iowa to support the State's long-term disaster recovery and critical infrastructure needs. The State of Iowa's recovery plan will target this CDBG funding to the following activities:

Housing repair/rehabilitation, homebuyer assistance and interim mortgage assistance - Iowa will commit $35 million to homeowners to make needed repairs to their damaged properties. Households whose homes were destroyed or damaged beyond reasonable repair will be offered downpayment assistance for replacement homes under this program. Homeowners facing default or foreclosure may also be eligible for mortgage assistance if they are eligible for buyout assistance.

Housing buyouts - Iowa will devote $20 million in CDBG funding to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 15 percent local match for home buyouts in flood-prone areas.

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