News

Disaster relief coming soon

To help cash-strapped counties recover from expenses incurred by recent flooding and tornadoes, state government is advancing them $620 million in property tax relief revenue that it otherwise would have paid later this year.

Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday he heard from elected officials in flooded communities who asked if the state could advance the revenue, in light of their cash-flow problems related to disaster-related expenses.

"Instead of waiting to transfer those funds, we will send them out there now, to help the localities through this emergency," Daniels said.

The $620 million advance in additional homestead credits is revenue from the Legislature increasing the 6 percent state sales tax to 7 percent as part of House Bill 1001, the property tax relief package approved in March.

Normally, the state would send counties the revenue two weeks after counties mail property tax bills to homeowners. But only six counties, including Vanderburgh, have sent their spring bills. Instead of distributing the money piecemeal, the state will issue the advance all at once, to all counties, even those not hit by flooding.

Without a cash advance, flood-stricken counties and localities otherwise would have to borrow, Daniels said.

"So we're prepaying at the state level. Instead of the state government collecting interest on this, we will transfer it to the localities, so at the minimum they don't have to pay interest (on loans) in the short term," the governor said.

Daviess County was hit hard by flooding, and county government there incurred big expenses, not yet calculated. Daviess County commissioner Jim Truelove said county-owned roads and culverts washed out, employees racked up significant overtime while sandbagging the levee in Elnora, Ind., and there were costs for vehicles, fuel and sand.

"We haven't heard the estimates yet; it's sizable," Truelove said. The county is waiting to learn what reimbursement it will receive from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We certainly would welcome the money the governor is sending to us," Truelove said.

The cash advance will not change the amounts of relief homeowners will see cut from their property tax bills, said Ryan Kitchell, director of the state Office of Management and Budget. But it will help tide over local governments until they receive FEMA reimbursements, he said. "We're just trying to help them from a cash-flow timing (standpoint) so they didn't have to borrow money," Kitchell said.

Source : http://www.courierpress.com/