After having suffered through Hurricane Irene, a Bergen Record article is throwing a bucket of cold water on hopes in Oakland for any local buyout plans.
The article details Oakland having applied for 24 million dollars in grants, none of which have been approved. Voluntary buyouts are reviewed for their cost effectiveness and social benefits.
The FEMA budget became a point of political contention toward the end of the summer in 2011 as major disasters were hitting the country. The agency was in need of additional funding by Congress, and Republicans sought to attach additional funding to other budget cuts.
The agency has also been criticized for using funds to help bailout cities like Camden and Atalantic City by awarding over 14 million dollars to re-hire firefighters laid off due to municipal budget cuts. Critics complained that FEMA funds should not be used to supplement a city’s municipal operating budget.
FEMA’s budget, now under the auspices of Homeland Security, is also the target of critics from the watchdog group Citizen’s Against Government Waste which publishes the “Pig Book”, listing various awards they define as pork barrel spending – earmarks by members of congress .
Some local communities have fared better than others in tapping into the FEMA budget for relief and remediation. In July of 2011, the Christie administration announced 48 million awarded by FEMA to help communities in New Jersey.
According to NJ DEP Commissioner Bob Martin,these awards “…will especially target properties in the Passaic River Basin that are repeatedly flooded, focusing on providing relief to residents of Passaic, Morris and Bergen counties who have constant worries of having their lives and livelihoods disrupted by flooding”.
While Oakland’s neighbor Wayne Township topped the list by getting 24 million of the 48 million awarded, there were no Bergen County towns listed as recepients in the press release issued in July 2011. Wayne Township also received an additional 6 million dollars in December of 2011.
According to the InsuranceJournal.com, Passaic County may also benefit with $6 million from the Army Corps of Engineers for acquisitions and a percentage of $12.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that can be used for property buyouts.
There are two Bergen County towns still in the running to receive aid; New Milford and Westwood have hopes of sharing up to 4 million of the 12 million still available.