ST. PAUL -- Minnesota's new disaster fund may be enough to reimburse local governments for early-summer flood-fighting costs until legislators return to work Jan. 6.
That is the gist of a Tuesday memorandum from the state finance commissioner and emergency management director.
The total state and local government damage is pegged at $40.8 million, with the federal government due to pay 75 percent. That leaves $10.2 million for the state to pay, and a new $3 million disaster fund should be enough to get by for now, Commissioner Jim Schowalter and Director Kris Eide said.
The Obama administration ruled that 37 of the state's 87 counties and three tribal governments sustained enough damage to receive federal aid. The administration denied help to Morrison and Dakota counties.
"Resources are currently available for a portion of the state's share," Schowalter and Eide wrote in their memo to Gov. Mark Dayton.
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To qualify for federal help, a county needed to show it incurred at least $3.50 per resident in damages.
Federal funds are only for governments to recover costs for flood fighting; they do not help private citizens and businesses that were damaged in flooding that began June 11 and in some cases extended into July.
Federal officials decided that damage in Morrison County did not occur during the disaster period. County officials say damage was $206,000 and under a new law the state would pay $155,600 of it if federal officials continue to refuse.
Dakota County, meanwhile, sustained $1.7 million in public infrastructure cost, which federal authorities said they would not pay. The state and county are appealing that decision. If the federal government does pay, the state's Dakota County cost would be $427,000; if federal officials continue to reject the request, the state portion would be $1.28 million.
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Counties receiving federal funds are Beltrami, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Dodge, Faribault, Freeborn, Hennepin, Jackson, Koochiching, Lac Qui Parle, Lake of the Woods, Le Sueur, Lyon, Marshall, Martin, McLeod, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Ramsey, Renville, Rice, Rock, Roseau, Scott, Sibley, Steele, Todd, Wadena, Waseca, Watonwan, Wright and Yellow Medicine. Tribal governments getting the money are Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Prairie Island Indian Community and Red Lake Band of Chippewa.
