Council committee will again discuss paying renters for lost flood possessions

The City Council's Budget Committee on Tuesday again will discuss using some of the city's local-option sales tax revenue to pay renters who lost personal possessions almost 28 months ago in the 2008 flood.

The idea to consider paying renters came up after the City Council decided to provide grants of up to $10,000 for homeowners who lost personal possessions in the flood. About 1,450 homeowners now have taken advantage of the program since late July, with individual checks averaging more than $8,000 each.

City staff members have estimated that some 1,000 renters may qualify for a similar renter program, which, if created, would be open to renters who earlier received disaster help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or some other federal agency.

Budget Committee members have noted that creating a program for renters is complicated because some renters lived upstairs and did not sustain damage in a house or complex that did and some renters lived in furnished apartments and so did not lose that much.

Council member Chuck Wieneke, a member of the Budget Committee, said again Monday that any grants for renters should be smaller than those for homeowners.

The Budget Committee on Tuesday also will discuss demolishing garages in flood-damaged neighborhoods. Most of the 550 or so home demolitions that have taken place to date have used Federal Emergency Management Agency funds designed for homes that are “imminent threats” to health and safety. Those funds can't be used on garages that aren't similarly defined. But, generally, federal Community Development Block Grant funds can be used, Greg Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, said Monday.