Limits on FEMA money

By The Gazette Editorial Board

You know what they say: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

So goes the $30 million in special project funding Cedar Rapids leaders expected to rake in from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA's initial numbers looked awfully attractive: $18 million for the mostly empty former Sinclair meatpacking plant complex, about $13 million for a non-operational, city-owned hydroelectric plant, and $2 million for the city-owned former Quality Chef site.

It would have been quite a deal, cashing in on properties that were not being used or had minimal use before the 2008 flood. No wonder city leaders and many others were excited.

But now FEMA says it will pay Cedar Rapids much less than that from its special alternate-project and improved-project funding sources for flood-damaged properties - only about $5 million for the former Sinclair site, and nothing for Quality Chef or the hydroelectric plant.

We have to admit, FEMA's revision after more study seems like better stewardship of taxpayer money.

Cedar Rapids officials have vowed to appeal FEMA's decision. We understand their determination - after all, there several great projects they could fund with the money.

City leaders have been banking on that $30 million to help pay for projects as varied as a riverfront amphitheater, a downtown trail system, a year-round farmers market, a new fire station, an animal care and control facility - among others.

City leaders had no trouble identifying exciting ways to spend that $30 million. But using federal tax money for such projects must be justified.

And FEMA officials have a valid point about the pre-flood value of buildings in question.

Before it flooded, for example, most of the Sinclair property sat vacant. Just 225,000 square feet of the plant's total 625,000 square feet was in use, housing a few small businesses and some warehouse space.

That's the number FEMA officials now say they'll use in calculating how much special project funding the city will qualify for - minus $500,000 for each building on the Sinclair site that the city had allowed to sit in the 100-year flood plain without flood insurance.

As for the hydroelectric plant, FEMA determined that the plant wasn't being used when it flooded. That makes it ineligible for alternate-project money. The city plans to argue that there were plans in the works to bring the plant back online. We'll see how that plays out.

“We certainly are going to pursue them with the same vigor as we have along,” City Council member Chuck Swore told a Gazette reporter about the new numbers.

We salute the effort. But city leaders should remember that FEMA is already paying about $15 million for Sinclair site demolition. There must be limits to the feds' largesse.