EXCLUSIVE: State Sits on Millions in Tornado Relief Funds

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

Millions of dollars set aside to help victims of last year’s deadly string of tornadoes have not been used and remain untouched several months later.

A GoLocalWorcester investigation has revealed that Rebuild Western Massachusetts, a state program to provide reimbursements to residential and commercial homeowners who used energy-efficient materials when rebuilding, has distributed less than $1 million. The program, which received $8 million in federal stimulus funds last September still has more than $7 million sitting unused, nine months after the disaster and with just three months left for victims to apply for reimbursement.

Local Complaints

This news comes on the heels of a story in GoLocalWorcester that detailed the plight of Dan Butler, a Southbridge resident who resides with his girlfriend and who says they have been repeatedly stonewalled by RWM and have been denied any reimbursement on the thousands of dollars they put into rebuilding their home.

That story, as well as having been contacted by Butler, compelled state Rep. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, to start looking into how much money has been funneled into tornado relief and how it has been used.

“Why is it, nine months later, we’ve only spent $1 million of an $8 million fund? What is the office doing? We want an accounting of where the money has been spent and what’s outstanding. We need to find out if there are other people being denied like Dan Butler,” Durant told GoLocalWorcester.

Continued Spending

Durant questioned the wisdom of spending another $4 million on tornado relief efforts without first having a full account of how other funds have been allocated. He was referring to Gov. Deval Patrick’s announcement on June 1, the anniversary of the tornadoes, that the state was distributing $4 million in additional clean-up and recovery funding to 10 communities that suffered devastating losses of property and life.

“I think it’s foolish to keep adding to a pot of money when we don’t know first how the initial pot has been spent, if it has been spent,” Durant said. “Who said we need $4 million more when we don’t even know what we’ve spent with other funds?”

Durant represents Charlton and Southbridge, two of the towns directly in the path of the tornadoes that also struck the Springfield area as well as Monson, Brimfield and Sturbridge. One person was killed in Brimfield. More than a year after the storm, thousands of dead trees remain, many of them on private property whose owners simply can’t afford to clear them.

“Let’s be clear,” Durant said. “I’m not saying we don’t need that $4 million. The question is could we have used the money from that $8 million?”

State Responds

An answer to that question came almost immediately. According to Krista Selmi, a spokesperson for the Executive Offfice of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA), the latest round of recovery funding was left over from a $15-million supplemental budget implemented last June to pay for tornado response costs. Four months later, on Oct. 27, Patrick signed off on a supplemental bill for $10 million to reimburse communities for recovery and cleanup expenses.

RWM falls under the purview of the EOEEA and Department of Energy Resources (DOER).

Other questions persist regarding RWM: “Why,” Durant asked, “are we making it so difficult for people to get money when we obviously have so much to give?”

It is not intentional, Selmi said, noting: “We just haven’t seen the level of applications come through.”

Promotional Efforts

The department has done “a number of things” to reach out to communities and make them aware of the available funding, Selmi said. The agency has attended community events, held local bank hours to provide “in-person information,” put out media advisories and advertised a help hotline in print, online and on TV and radio. In addition, Selmi said flyers detailing the program were sent to every state legislator representing an affected community.

Durant said he could not remember whether his office received a flyer.

Rebate Program Starts

Rebuild Western Massachusetts was established last August, when Patrick announced $8 million in so-called ARRA funding (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). The money was to be awarded to tornado victims either rebuilding or renovating their homes or businesses using energy efficiency materials and practices.

According to Selmi, RWM has worked with 151 residential and commercial applicants – 146 residential and five commercial. Those claims have either been paid out or are in the process of being completed. The total amount of residential claims through RWM is $505,000. The total for commercial claims is $116,000. In addition, 12 residential applications have been approved for up to $300,000 in commercial loans.

That adds up to roughly $921,000 – far less than what RWM has available. That is not by design, according to Galen Nelson, director of intergovernmental partnerships with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. That agency, in partnership with the DOER, is responsible for executing the RWM program.

More Can Apply

“We’d love to have more applicants,” said Nelson. “It’s been a challenge to get them.”

Butler and his girlfriend were among those applicants. In his interview with GoLocalWorcester, Butler said an inspector initially told them what guidelines they had to follow in order to qualify for reimbursement. The inspector then gave them the OK during a follow-up visit. Despite that, Butler said they were repeatedly denied funding through RWM because they did not complete their work to the proper specifications. Selmi said Butler had not provided the necessary paperwork. On Thursday, she said he was missing just one piece of information. The problem, Selmi said, was Butler was submitting information piece by piece.

Butler did not return phone calls seeking comment on Friday.

“We’re here to help these people,” Selmi said. “We’re trying to make this work with Mr. Butler. There are both sides to the story.

Governor Weighs In

In response to a request for comment from GoLocalWorcester, the Patrick Administration ignored the questions concerning RWM, instead releasing the following statement: “The Patrick-Murray Administration launched an immediate and comprehensive response to the June 1, 2011 tornadoes, and remains committed to helping impacted communities and residents use this crisis as an opportunity to rebuild, renew and rebound. The Administration has maintained a presence in the region, dedicating significant resources to rebuilding projects and partnering with federal and local officials to get businesses and homeowners back on their feet. More than 20 state agencies have contributed to this effort, with hundreds of employees providing guidance and information. To date, the state has distributed more than $20 million to help clean up and rebuild in Western and Central Massachusetts.”

State Sen. Stephen Brewer, D-Barre, whose district includes Brimfield, Charlton and Monson, said he was not especially worried that $7 million has not been spent in almost a year.

“I’m not terribly concerned,” Brewer said. “I spent all day last Friday in Brimfield and Monson. They’re thrilled with what the commonwealth has done.”

Unfortunately, said Brewer, “Some of these things take woefully long. When you’re dealing with thousands of people, you’re going to have some frustrated people.”

RWM, to this point, has dealt with a fraction of that, but the senator did not see anything amiss, saying, “That $7 million might go down to $3 million rather quickly.”

That raises another question: What happens to any leftover RWM funds? In this case, the state could be left with $7 million. Selmi acknowledged that the state is free to allocate the money for related uses, “but there are guidelines. We haven’t made any decisions, yet.”

That is something Durant wants to know.

“We want to know, was that $8 million maybe just way more than what was needed? If that’s the case, we need to reallocate that money,” said Durant. “It’s been nine months since the program has been put in place and you still have applications coming in? How’s the pipeline working here? I think there are a lot of questions. I hope we find everything is running as smooth as it can. I’m just concerned that’s not the case. On the surface, this seems awfully strange."