OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Emergency Agency will be changing its policy so that communities that are rebuilding after a disaster can get reimbursed faster.
The new procedure will reimburse communities after each individual project has been completed, rather than waiting until all of a community's rebuilding projects were finished. The requirement to finish all projects placed a burden on smaller communities that had to take out loans and pay interest for projects while waiting for reimbursement.
Communities have been waiting for more than three years for repayment after floods in 2011. Until a couple of months ago, the state agency and FEMA still owed a total of $7.2 million.
FEMA pays 75 percent of project costs and the state pays 12.5 percent. Local communities must cover the rest.
The agency's new policy will be similar to that of Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management.
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