~ Funding is next step in state’s financial assistance to southeast Minnesota ~

Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today directed state agencies to provide $31.8 million of state aid for the rebuilding effort in flood stricken southeast Minnesota. The Governor’s package includes assistance for homeowners, businesses, and additional help for local governments to repair their infrastructure.

“We are working aggressively to help the people of southeast Minnesota rebuild their communities by tapping existing funds and redirecting money where it is needed most,” Governor Pawlenty said. “These executive funding actions are the next steps in providing state financial help for homeowners, businesses, and communities. However, an additional financing package is necessary because the need for assistance exceeds existing government and private resources. We will continue to work with the legislature to address these needs.”

Governor Pawlenty’s aid package redirects existing state resources from the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Natural Resources, Employment and Economic Development, Pollution Control Agency, and Minnesota Housing Finance. The package includes:

$16 million - Minnesota Housing Finance - The funds can be used for loans to rehabilitate damaged homes and apartments, new construction, and for mortgage down payment assistance. MHFA will work with local housing authorities, local communities, individuals and federal partners in the affected areas to award funds and make loans. State assistance will help address gaps in federal assistance from the Small Business Administration and FEMA.

$5.2 million - Department of Employment and Economic Development - This funding will provide grants and loans to local units of government to rebuild flood damaged public and private facilities. DEED will work with cities and counties on the best use of these funds, including business loans and assistance.

$4.6 million - Department of Natural Resources - DNR will use these funds to begin repairing trails, roads and infrastructure in Whitewater State Park, on the Root River State Trail, and in state forests. The agency will also begin making stream and bank improvements required because of flood damage and severe erosion.

$3.3 million - Minnesota Pollution Control Agency – These funds will be used to assist the reconstruction of stormwater infrastructure in the region and help manage and dispose of additional volumes of household hazardous waste generated as a result of flooded homes.

$2.2 million - Department of Agriculture - Funds will be available for a variety of disaster loan and grant programs. These programs are targeted assistance to individuals, businesses, and local units of government to help pay for the replacement of rural septic systems, feedlot repair, clean-up and removal of debris, lost seed, machinery repair, loss of feed and livestock, and other costs not covered by insurance.

$500,000 – Department of Commerce – State funds provided to the Minnesota Energy Assistance Program will be available for emergency energy assistance for income qualified residents of southeast Minnesota, especially for the repair or replacement of damaged furnaces and boilers.

In addition to the financial assistance, Governor Pawlenty also announced today that the Department of Revenue will temporarily waive the tax paid for hauling construction debris generated in the presidentially declared disaster area (Minnesota Statute 297H.06; subd. 3). The tax is paid by waste haulers and passed along to residential and business customers. To qualify for the exemption, debris must have resulted from flood-caused demolition and repair and be hauled to a facility designated by the Pollution Control Agency.

Since the August 18-19 flooding in the region, Governor Pawlenty previously directed state assistance to help those impacted by the flood:

• Government aid payments to cities and counties in southeastern Minnesota have been accelerated to help communities address the costs associated with rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Local government aid payments are regularly sent to cities and counties twice a year, on July 20 and December 26. Under the Governor’s order, December payments for cities and counties in the presidentially declared disaster area are being made this week. The expedited payments total $25.1 million – $18.2 million to 58 cities and $6.9 million to seven counties.
• Southeastern Minnesota flood victims will receive Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development. The DUA program provides temporary income assistance to workers and self-employed individuals whose work has been lost or interrupted as a direct result of recent flooding.
• Governor Pawlenty also ordered the state to waive electrical inspection permit fees for residents of southeast Minnesota who are rebuilding their homes following the devastating flash floods earlier this month. Homeowners will not have to pay the $35 to $135 state fees if they are eligible for repairs or reconstruction of their homes under the current FEMA Individual and Household grant program. The fees will be waived for permit applications received by the Department of Labor and Industry within one year of the date of the presidential disaster declaration.
• A new “Minnesota Recovers” Web site is now operational and features information for individuals, businesses and others affected by flooding in southeastern Minnesota at www.minnesotarecovers.org

According to estimates by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, severe flooding on August 18-19 resulted in approximately $67 million in damage to private property and public infrastructure in southeastern Minnesota. About 1,500 homes in the area sustained some damage and approximately 300 were destroyed. It is likely that the damage estimate will increase as more information becomes available.

Following an expedited request by Governor Pawlenty, the presidential disaster declaration made funds available funds from a number of federal programs in seven counties – Fillmore, Winona, Houston, Steele, Olmsted, Dodge and Wabasha. FEMA disaster assistance includes aid to individuals and households, aid to public and certain private non-profit entities for emergency services and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities, and funding for measures designed to reduce future losses to public and private property.

Per federal policy, FEMA reimburses 75 percent of eligible costs associated with public infrastructure damage caused by the disaster. The state and local communities are responsible for the remaining 25 percent. Individual assistance from FEMA is capped at $28,200, though other loans and grants may be available from the Small Business Administration and the State of Minnesota.

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