MUSCATINE, Iowa — Muscatine County’s loss may be Louisa County flood victims’ gain.

Muscatine County officials believed they would receive $522,000 from the Jumpstart Iowa Recovery Initiative, but $83,000 has been reallocated to assist two families affected by flooding in Louisa County.

Muscatine County Zoning Administrator Eric Furnas told the Board of Supervisors at its meeting Monday that he was shocked to find out about the reallocation one day after receiving 25 applications from the Bi-State Regional Commission Thursday.

He said losing the $83,000 could mean funds are not available to help four or five Muscatine County families affected by flooding.

Furnas said he and Bi-State officials are trying to learn why the money was reallocated.

Tracy Balbort, who was not present at the Board meeting, said Bi-State belongs to a coalition of five Eastern Iowa agencies that was awarded more than $2.1 million for flood relief on Oct. 1.

Balbort is director of housing at the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission in Burlington, which belongs to the coalition. Other members include the cities of Davenport and Dubuque, and lead agency East Central Intergovernmental Association.

Balbort said the coalition initially tabbed about $156,000 to Bi-State for Scott County, and $522,000 for Muscatine County.

But, she said, “there was a 30-day deadline from Oct. 1,” after which the coalition could re-allocate funds to other commissions.

Balbort said she applied for the $83,000 from a pool of $600,000 of uncommitted Jumpstart funds.

Furnas said Monday, “We were never notified of any dates.”

He said he knew funds were to be obligated by Oct. 31, “but what does obligated mean?”

County officials first spoke with representatives from Bi-State on Oct. 7, and Furnas said it would have been difficult to have all the money spent by the end of the month.

Denise Bulat, executive director of Bi-State, said Monday that she believed funds will still be available to Muscatine County residents affected by this summer’s floods.

She did not agree with Balbort that money Bi-State had not committed would revert back to the coalition, but individuals involved in the distribution of the funds could not provide a definite answer by press time this morning.

A call to Mark Schneider, community development and public services director at the East Central Intergovernmental Association, the lead agency for the coalition, was not returned by press time this morning.

Tina Potthoff, communications director at the Rebuild Iowa office in Des Moines, said the state allocated money to about a dozen coalitions that were awarded Jumpstart funds. Money was not earmarked for specific counties, she said, and the coalitions could distribute the funds as they saw fit.

She said the reallocation to Louisa County was “kind of a no-brainer. If the money’s sitting there, it should be used.”

Potthoff said the funds were intended to be distributed quickly to help until federal funds arrive. The local coalition can expect to receive about $3.5 million from the federal government, she said.

Board meeting

During its regular meeting Monday, the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors:

- Borrowed $500,000 in general obligation bonds to finance replacement of courthouse windows, repair the county facility on Houser Street, repair the roof at the historic jail and repair leaky windows at the Administration Building and county attorney offices.

The bid from Central State Bank for five years at 3.65 percent was the lowest of four received.

- Canvassed the 2008 general election. The names of trustee-elects Tom Johanns in Bloomington Township and Scott Eichelberger in 76 Township were drawn from a box to break tied votes.

Reporter contact information

Jennifer Meyer: 563-262-0525

jennifer.meyer@muscatinejournal.com

Details

On Oct. 1, $2.1 million in Iowa Jumpstart Recovery initiative funds were awarded to a coalition comprised of the following councils of governments and entitlement cities:

- Bi-State Regional Commission — Represents Scott and Muscatine counties

- Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission — Represents Des Moines, Henry, Lee and Louisa counties

- East Central Intergovernmental Association (lead agency) — Represents Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque and Jackson counties

- City of Davenport

- City of Dubuque