County Approves $1 Million Payment To Unlock Storm Reimbursements
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WATER VALLEY – Yalobusha County supervisors voted Monday to spend more than $1 million from the county’s general fund reserves in an effort to release millions of dollars in federal reimbursements for cleanup expenses from Winter Storm Fern.
The action came during the board’s Oct. 19 meeting after Board President Cayce Washington reported that approximately $4 million remains owed to two contractors who handled debris removal and monitoring following the January ice storm.
The county’s debris removal and monitoring expenses totaled approximately $11 million, according to figures presented at an earlier supervisors meeting. Of that amount, approximately $4.04 million remained unpaid as of Oct. 19, before supervisors approved the additional $1.02 million payment. Washington said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved and obligated nearly all the county’s submitted storm-related projects, but the money has not yet reached the county. The problem, he explained, is that the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is requiring the county to pay its share of certain projects before releasing additional federal funds.
“We can’t pay them until we get the money because we simply don’t have the money to pay them,” Washington said of the outstanding contractor bills.
Washington said the county had understood that donated resources and work performed by county employees could offset its required 12.5 percent share of storm expenses. However, MEMA is now requiring documentation that certain contractor invoices have been paid in full before additional reimbursements can be processed.
Laurel Matula with ER Assist, the consulting firm assisting the county with disaster reimbursements, joined the meeting by telephone and confirmed Washington’s explanation.
“You’re going to have to spend some money to get the money,” Matula told supervisors. “You’re going to have to prime the pump a little bit here.”
The board subsequently approved payments of $910,980.10 to TFR, the debris removal contractor, and $112,524.29 to Debris Tech, which monitored the cleanup.
The combined payment of $1,023,504.39 will come from the county’s general fund reserves.
Washington said the county owed TFR $3,228,826.05 and Debris Tech $815,367.20 before the payments. Following the approved payments, the outstanding balances will be reduced to approximately $2.3 million and $703,000, respectively.
Matula explained that the county must provide canceled checks documenting the payments before MEMA will release additional reimbursements. She estimated that the process could take three to six weeks once the required documentation is submitted.
The county’s financial position could remain strained in the meantime. Washington said the general fund has approximately $2.5 million in reserves, but that money must also cover payroll and other expenses until property tax collections begin arriving.
Supervisors discussed whether other county funds could be used, but concluded that the general fund was the appropriate source.
Washington said the contractors have been cooperative despite the delays.
“These guys did this work March through June. They deserve to be paid,” he said.
