It appears the province won’t match the city two-for-one to cover claims filed after the May flooding disaster.
Members of the Thunder Bay Disaster Relief Fund Committee gave an update to council Monday night, which included the news that the province was only matching 20 cents to every dollar raised locally.
The city brought in a total of more than $1.5 million for the relief effort with the province so far providing around $300,000.
The money was expected to cover the losses thousands of residents faced following the flooding disaster on May 28th last year. More than 760 residents filed for losses and damages by the Oct. 31 deadline but only 449 were eligible.
The total gross from those claims was about $4.2 million.
But chairman Wayne Fletcher said because of limits under the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program the actual amount that the city is eligible for is $1.8 million.
For example, the ODRAP limits for a family of four for a couch is $450 and $400 for a double bed. The limit for a washer and dryer is at $470 and $400.
Fletcher said they’re in serious talks with the province to make those guidelines less strict.
“They always said it was up to two-for-one based on eligible claims,” he said. “We thought because of the early numbers that we had that the numbers would be more than sufficient enough. The things that were eligible were at $4.2 million.
“If we’re at $4.2 million we would need the two-for-one funding now wouldn’t we? But it is the guidelines that say ‘this couch is this much’. That’s what has really dropped it down.”
Because of the guideline limits, the city’s net eligible amount sits at $1.8 million.
Although the committee can pay that amount, Fletcher said the number has to go up to properly meet the needs of those who suffered during the flooding.
“As a committee we believe there needs to be adjustment to these rules,” he said. “We offered them some suggestions and examples. How much are they going to change is the $10 question. From the conversations we’ve had is they believe yes, the guidelines are too stringent and they don’t reflect what’s going on in Thunder Bay. They have to go up but they haven’t given us a number yet on how far up.”
He added the committee can send out an interim amount of money to those who filed claims.
More than 500 advance forms for $1000 were filed with about $527,000 distributed by the end of July, 111 are to be repaid because of ineligibility.
At-Large Coun. Rebecca Johnson suspected many wouldn’t be happy with this news.
Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds said the two-for-one deal with the province was a big selling point for the community to donate to the relief fund.
Michael Smith, general manager for the city’s facility, fleet and transit, also gave an update on the Safe Homes program.
He said they’re waiting to hear back from the province if they will cover the $4.2 million the city spent during the flooding disaster.
Although the province hasn’t given any guarantees, Smith said they’re hoping to hear some good news soon.
“We do know there is some appetite from the province to fund that for us,” he said. “We do believe there’s a benefit to the community if the province does fund that for us. This would be part of what we would claim under the public loss and yes it would be a portion of that $10 million fund."
The $10 million is payment the province made to the city after the May 28 flood. Smith said the remainder of the fund will be used to cover municipal losses.
