After Frances destroyed the pier in 2004,
Lake Worth Mayor Marc Drautz
appealed to FEMA to get federal funds to
have the pier rebuilt.
Through the course of the three hurricanes (Frances and Jeanne in 2004 and Wilma in 2005 whose eye of the hurricane went over Lake Worth), approximately $26 million in reimbursement for damages was given to Lake Worth from FEMA and distributed to the city from the State of Florida. Included in all of the wreckage and losses was damage to our Pier. Pier damage goes with the territory.
For a small little city, 5.945.2/sq miles, we suffered the most damage when it came to our Utility. The various damages included (but were not limited to) downed trees, our electric grid, poles, switches, transformers, meters, city buildings. We on Lake Osborne were without power for 12.5 days and cold showers got to be the norm. We removed 18,148 CY of debris in 2004 and 19,111 CY in 2005. The City received invoices from all companies as well as linesmen from outside the State that were involved with helping to get our city back on track after the hurricanes and restore our power.
In one submission to FEMA, the city asked to be reimbursed for--
tools
membership to Sam's Club
personal medication
for a total of $8,553 that were all thrown out and rightfully so.
The city even submitted invoices for losses covered and paid by insurance that were eventually disallowed and FEMA asked to be refunded. Our city gym was one of those insurance claims and billed to FEMA. And even though the city has taken the position that no fraud was committed, it is apparent that some did exist. If false claims are submitted for the obvious, then why should we assume that they were not submitted for the more obscure. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
It was the utility that caused the biggest red flags with FEMA. As the utility is the black hole of Lake Worth, only those working there at the time (and there is still plenty of staff still there) would be able to speak to that or the former city manager, Paul Boyer. FEMA originally wanted $8 million returned and asked the city to give them verification that their submissions were accurate, certainly a fair request. However, it would cost FEMA multi-millions to do an investigation of our utility, and what occurred 8 years ago. It would be an impossible quest. We know it. They know it.
718 pages of information and charges were submitted to FEMA. 294 pages were submitted in the back-up on Thursday after Wednesday night's FEMA discussion and explanation to the commission and to the Public.
The first demand for reimbursement by FEMA, of which I am aware, was after Hurricane Frances when we submitted invoices for our damaged pier and they wanted us to return $1.1 million. This was announced at a city commission meeting at the time. Click here.
Originally FEMA requested that $8.15 million be returned to them by the city for all three hurricanes but after several audits and one appeal, the sum has been reduced substantially. After reading the backup, which was a little confusing and probably only something a finance director would totally understand, the supporting documentation says that we have $5,173,000 in hurricane reserves. If we reduce this budget by what FEMA says is disallowed--$2,832,079 and an additional $1,154,860, it leaves a balance in our emergency fund of $1,186,061. Today's Palm Beach Post article confirms that FEMA now wants $4 million.
So, we went from a total of $8,152,776 in supposed questionable, false or disallowed charges that FEMA had demanded be returned to $3.986 million that they still want. The city is appealing this latest audit as well and say that none of the questioned costs should be chargeable to the city as they had been allowed and determined to be properly supported in the original closeout. The amount of time that has evolved from the three hurricanes to the present, has caused the city to lose some of the documentation and the city feels that should not be held against them in FEMA's ultimate determination. Lack of documentation and shoddy accounting was held against us in the Sewer fiasco, so why should this be any different?
2 comments:
it was a well known fact at the time that LW added much of the 26kV material to the list of materials submitted to FEMA. The rumor had it that big time fraud had happened.
There is fraud here. The CM should interview every single employee with the utility at that time. Anyone, even Clay Lindstrom, should be able to look at these invoices and know if it was storm related or not. This pizzes me off that the city is involved in another cover-up, this time it is criminal.
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