Ocean City Waits to Get Paid for $11 Million Sandy Cleanup

In the first nine months since Superstorm Sandy struck the New Jersey coastline, the federal government has reimbursed Ocean City about $1.5 million to offset the costs of the record storm.

A new report from the state Office of Emergency Management shows distributions of federal money to municipalities throughout the state.

Since the storm, Ocean City has approved a total of about $11 million in emergency borrowing (through three separate bond ordinances and appropriations) for storm cleanup and rebuilding. The city expects to recover almost all of that money through federal emergency relief and flood insurance.

While Congress in January approved $51 billion in aid to states affected by Sandy, many towns have complained about the pace of distribution.

But Ocean City Finance Director Frank Donato said reimbursements actually have "come faster than I've seen in past storms."

The three payments to the City of Ocean City listed in the new state OEM report — $71,250, $92,810.59 and $157,500 — represent partial payments for administering a Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power (STEP) program, for construction of an emergency sand berm and for overtime expenditures during the cleanup of the streets.

The payments represent half of the government's usual 75-percent share of expenses, and Donato said the city has never seen up-front partial payments after past federal disaster declarations. He also said future payments will be adjusted to reflect the 90 percent federal reimbursement declared for Sandy.

Not reflected in the OEM report is a $1,195,000 partial reimbursement to Ocean City for debris removal (sand and trash), Donato said.

Final payments come only after extensive paperwork and reports are filed and approved, typically a long process, Donato said.

"Cash flow is not a problem since all of the FEMA expenditures were covered by borrowed funds, either through an emergency appropriation or bond ordinances," Donato said. "However, the faster we do get reimbursed, the faster we can pay off that debt, thus less interest charges that get passed along to the taxpayers. So in essence there’s an incentive for us to complete the paperwork and documentation as quickly as we can to get reimbursed."

The city will not be reimbursed for any planned improvements that did not exist before Superstorm Sandy. A $1.2 million repair of the flood-damaged first floor of City Hall, for instance, will include public restrooms and other new features. Only part of the project will be reimbursed through flood insurance and federal funds.

The full state OEM report can be found by clicking here. The report also lists the following payments:

• Ocean City Board Of Education: $2,387.34
• Ocean City Board Of Education: $15,954.07
• Ocean City Housing Authority: $64,829.13
• Ocean City Housing Authority: $33,047.93
• Ocean City Housing Authority: $38,232.29
• Ocean City Housing Authority: $240.79
• Ocean City Housing Authority: $5,882.00