The Columbia County Board of Commissioners received an update on the funds for debris clean up during the meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
County Manager Scott Johnson reminded commissioners that during the Hurricane Helene emergency, he was given permission to up the contract with Ceres, the debris hauler for up to $50 million. He told commissioners that on Wednesday he was going to allocate $15 more million for debris clean up for a total of $65 million. So far the county has received $17 million in reimbursement for the clean-up.
“A lot of people have heard we have not been approved for the 180 days; we’re stuck at the 120 days for reimbursement,” Johnson said. “That 120 days now come and gone, so that puts us on the hook for 25%. The state could pay 10% of that, leaving us on the hook for 15%. If we were on the hook for the entire amount, it could be up to about $40 million that the county would have had to have paid and not been reimbursed for. My understanding is Gov. Kemp has put it into the budget to pay that entire 25% for us…we do believe we’re going to receive 100% reimbursement for what we’ve done so far between the state and the federal amount. We are continuing to follow the FEMA guidelines to a T to make sure we qualify for that reimbursement.”
MORE: FEMA nixes funding extension for Hurricane Helene relief, Kemp steps in
Chairman Doug Duncan asked where the money was coming from. Johnson replied that the county put some projects on hold and any tax money that has not been applied to the budget is being used.
“The money has a place, it has a need. We do not have $50 million or $65 million in excess,” Johnson said. “But I feel comfortable with the $65 million given that we’ve gotten $17 million back and I set aside $50 million. So essentially, we have $67 million to extend. We’re going to need that reimbursement or we’re not going to be able to do the projects we’ve set aside to do. again, we may have budget shortfalls if we don’t get our reimbursement.”
