October Storm FEMA Reimbursements Could Amount to $2.15 Million

There's no telling how the 2011-12 fiscal year budget will close as a result of Tropical Storm Irene and the October Storm.

It all hangs on the total reimbursement the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will give the town of Avon for projects resulting from the two natural disasters.

The town has already received about $106,000 from FEMA, 75 percent of the cost of six projects pertaining to storm damage, Town Manager Brandon Robertson said. The town is also waiting for FEMA to confirm possible reimbursement for the .

While Robertson said the Irene reimbursement is important, the storm did not have the impact on the operating budget that the October snowstorm did.

“It’s very important that we get reimbursed to fiscal year 2012," Town Manager Brandon Robertson said.

However, FEMA's response to the town's application for October storm reimbursement has long been stalled. The delay in the application processing is due to the fact that FEMA has cycled three project managers through the town – first, a person from another part of the country attending to the region and the second, an individual based closer to Avon. Now the town is on to its third representative, with little explanation as to why. Robertson is hopeful this project manager will stick and see the application through.

“Other communities are experiencing same type of turnover,” Robertson said.

The town spent about $2.7 million in its Public Works Department budget, according to Robertson, as a result of the freak snowstorm days before Halloween. If that is not reimbursed in time, by October at the latest, it will be applied to the 2012-13 budget instead, leaving a large unplanned expense on the current budget. If Avon receives the maximum 75 percent reimbursement for the October storm application, the town will get about $2.15 million back to offset the cost, he said.

"Whenever we paid for vender, we paid for it out of current year appropriation," Robertson said. "We didn’t draw down reserves or use capital project equity."

While the dollar amount is high, Robertson  said "it’s a simpler application in a lot of ways" because there are less projects included, the main one being cleanup of the tree debris. The other category included incorporates about $200,000 in other costs like overtime and the operation of the at .

Robertson said that it isn't clear at this time whether Avon could be in a deficit position if the FEMA reimbursement can't be applied to fiscal year 2012, however, he said that the town cannot end the year in a deficit. That could mean drawing from sources outside the operating budget.

However, Robertson pointed out a silver lining.

"If we had a terrible winter season, we’d be in worse situation than we are now," he said.