State Jumpstart housing deadline looms

DES MOINES – Tuesday marks last call for affected Iowans to apply for disaster-related state housing assistance.

Iowa lawmakers last session approved $24 million in special Jumpstart housing financial aid for victims of Iowa's 2008 tornado and flood disasters, and state officials say the application period to qualify for up to $24,999 of that money ends Tuesday. The application deadline only applies to the Jumpstart housing money Gov. Chet Culver signed last February.

The funds were part of an overall $56 million state relief package taken from the state's economic emergency reserve. The program also included $22 million in community disaster grants and $10 million to reimburse expenses for unmet needs for victims in presidentially declared disaster areas for a period spanning May 24 to Aug. 14 last year.

“I think that program has provided a lot of help to a lot of people who desperately needed help,” said Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, chairman of the Senate Rebuild Iowa Committee.

Tina Potthoff of the Rebuild Iowa Office said 1,095 applications have been approved to receive more than $16.4 million in Jumpstart housing assistance under the provisions of House File 64 and nearly $12.7 million of that amount have been dispersed. All of the $22 million earmarked for community projects have been expended and about $4.5 million of the $10 million for unmet needs have been committed, state officials said.

The state housing funds have been used to repair damaged homes, cover interim mortgage payments or assist victims in obtaining replacement housing, said Joe O'Hern of the Iowa Finance Authority, the state agency that oversees the housing program.

“It filled a very critical gap in the recovery process,” he said. “It's been a huge boost to the recovery effort.”

The follow-up Jumpstart money was designed to supplement the initial $40 million state allocation established in September 2008 -- $20 million for housing and $20 million for business assistance – and a separate array of federal assistance from emergency management, housing and other agency sources with help for victims whose needs fell outside those other sources.

O'Hern said the broad array of program have resulted in more than $52.4 million in housing aid being approved for housing needs and nearly $40 million dispersed to disaster victims.

Many of those program activities will be ongoing as applications work through the governmental process and additional federal funds are released, he said. Although slowed by the verification and approval processes, O'Hern said the housing assistance has been a crucial part of Iowa's disaster recovery.

Hogg said the cumbersome nature of the approval process caused considerable frustration and likely prompted some people who would be eligible for government financial help not to apply for the public assistance.

“In hindsight, we all wish it would have been able to have been implemented more quickly and a little more smoothly,” he said. “I know there are a lot of disappointments that we couldn't do more. But I think on balance it has helped a lot of people who have been devastated by natural disasters and floods.”

Anyone seeking to apply for state housing assistance before the deadline lapses can do so through the local Council of Governments office or a designated entitlement city, Potthoff said.

Contact the writer: (515) 243-7220 or rod.boshart@gazcomm.com