FEMA slow to re-imburse cities that took evacuees

[rainbow4321]

Wow..not a good sign that they still owe Houston $3 mil from their TS Allison 2001 flood. Now it looks like they are dragging their financial feet on the current crisis. Not a good way to convince cities to help out in the future. Of course, keep in mind, it was the Dallas mayor who called chimp's last speech "propaganda" as she was helping out at Reunion Arena on Thursday night.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/092005dnmetcityfema.d26c63d.html


Houston, with a pledge of reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has approved a $10 million emergency appropriation and signed leases for about 25,000 displaced persons, said Frank Michel, spokesman for Houston Mayor Bill White.

But Dallas officials say they've advanced FEMA millions of dollars and don't want to put any more taxpayer dollars at risk. The federal government needs to come up with a better option, they said. "We can't afford to do that," Ms. Miller said. "It is a huge liability we will not take on."

"We've already advanced $2.5 million to $3 million, and we haven't got a check yet," Ms. Suhm said. "I'm looking for the most effective and efficient way to do this without causing jeopardy to the citizens who live here and pay taxes."

Signing leases for all of the city's evacuated families would cost the city up to $5 million a month, Ms. Miller said after a Monday morning budget briefing. Even with the reimbursement, she said, cash flow would be a problem.