City to borrow $20M to cover Sandy costs

Council approves measure ahead of FEMA reimbursement

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The City Council approved a $20 million short-term borrowing measure at its Aug. 19 meeting to cover the lingering costs of Hurricane Sandy. The measure will fund rebuilding projects ranging from dune walkovers, beach concessions and restrooms to repairs at the city’s wastewater treatment facilities and local playgrounds.

The council voted unanimously to approve a revenue-anticipation note, to be repaid next year. City Manager Jack Schnirman said that the cost of the projects would be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Sandy caused approximately $200 million in damage in Long Beach. To date, officials said, FEMA has reimbursed the city $64.4 million for post-storm rebuilding, and has pledged to reimburse 90 percent of the city’s share of Sandy-related expenses. The state recently announced that it would cover the remainder in order to ease the burden on taxpayers.

Last week’s measure came after the city approved a $33 million revenue-anticipation note last year, and officials said that the latest borrowing would supplement that initiative. The city said that it had paid down $15 million of last year’s note, and expected to reduce it by an additional $2 million next month. The remainder, the city said, would be covered by the reissued note if the FEMA reimbursement is not received by next week.

“We paid down $15 million early, which by paying it down early we’ve actually saved the city $50,000 in interest,” said Kristie Hansen-Hightower, the city’s comptroller.

The city has about $100 million in Sandy rebuilding projects that are currently under way or in the works, Schnirman said. “This is the funding of the recovery that’s going on throughout the city — all of these big infrastructure projects that are to be reimbursed by FEMA and New York Rising,” he said. “This is the vehicle for them, and it’s critical to continue the city’s recovery efforts.”

Jim LaCarrubba, the city’s commissioner of public works, said that some of the projects that will be funded with the latest borrowing measure have already been completed, including most of the work at the wastewater treatment plant and the lift stations.

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