Assistance for Communities
The programs listed below offer a comprehensive look at the assistance available to communities affected by the 2008 storms, tornadoes and flooding in Iowa.
Jump to:
- Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program
- Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
- Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) Public Facilities and Infrastructure Assistance
- Community Disaster Loan (CDL) Program
- Jumpstart Infrastructure Assistance
- Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance
- Community Disaster Grant (CDG) Program - EXPIRED
Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program
The Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program, funded by FEMA and the State of Iowa, is available to state and local governments and to certain nonprofit organizations, allowing them to respond and recover from disasters and to mitigate the impact of future disasters.
Through the PA program for this disaster, FEMA provides supplemental federal disaster grant assistance for 90% and the State of Iowa provides 10% of the eligible expenses associated with debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly-owned facilities and the facilities of certain Private Non-Profit (PNP) organizations to pre-disaster levels. The PA program also encourages protection of these damaged facilities from future events by providing assistance for hazard mitigation measures during the recovery process.
The Public Assistance Grant Program is administered through a coordinated effort between FEMA, the State of Iowa and the applicants.
For more information on the PA program, visit the Public Assistance page on the FEMA Web site.
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is administered in Iowa by the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division. It provides funds to local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures, including property acquisition, safe rooms, and other mitigation measures designed to minimize the impact of future disaster events. When HMGP funds are used for property acquisition, the property is turned into green space to minimize impacts from future floods and other emergency events. Under the program the state works directly with cities and counties which are responsible for final negotiations with local property owners.
For more information about the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, visit the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Web site.
Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) Public Facilities and Infrastructure Assistance
State Revolving Fund (SRF) Construction Loans fund the creation of public drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects for cities and utilities. These loans have a low interest rate of 3 percent and terms of up to 20 years.
For more information, visit the Iowa Finance Authority's Public Facilities and Infrastructure Assistance Web page.
Community Disaster Loan (CDL) Program
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security approved approximately $5.8 million in FEMA Community Disaster Loans (CDL) for Iowa, including the maximum $5 million loan amount for Cedar Rapids. These funds will be used to assist five Iowa communities as they continue to recover from the 2008 disasters.
FEMA has approved five loans for Iowa:
- Cedar Rapids ($5 million)
- New Hartford ($118,811)
- Oakville ($51,588)
- Palo ($304,722)
- Parkersburg ($385,295)
Loans can be made to any local government in need of financial assistance to perform essential services. CDL applicants may include fire and police departments that provide critical community services during and in the immediate aftermath of disasters, as well as school boards, district court offices, and local governments.
Potential community applicants for CDLs should consult their Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) contact for more information on applying for assistance. For more information about Community Disaster Loans, visit the FEMA Web site.
Jumpstart Infrastructure Assistance
The Jumpstart Federal Infrastructure Assistance program is a disaster-related infrastructure assistance program administered by the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED). More information about this program is available on the IDED Web site.
Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance
The Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance has now posted the Historic Architectural Resources surveys produced by Iowa Homeland Security. These reports are required for any federally-funded program activity and outline resources that are considered historic. These historic resources are eligible to access several financial incentive programs at the state, county and federal levels.
- Click here to view the reports.
- Click here for more information about the State Historic Rehabilitation Income Tax Credit program.
Community Disaster Grant (CDG) Program
This program has expired and is no longer active.
The Community Disaster Grant (CDG) Program is a $22 million disaster-relief program established by House File 64 and sined into law on Feb. 2, 2009.
Program funds are awarded to eligible cities and counties. Each city or county receives a minimum of $2,000, and the remainder of the program funds are granted to those entities based upon a pro rata share of damage costs (using the FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) Program and Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program data as of February 2, 2009 for each respective city or county).
The grants are to be used for disaster-related costs not yet covered by other federal or non-federal resources. Eligible uses for the grant are the following:
- Nonprofit organization assistance.
- Assistance for the public purchase of land and accompanying structures if financial assistance for such purchases is not available from FEMA or when a non-federal match is required for a grant involved in the public purchase of land and accompanying structures.
- Assistance for the repair, replacement, or upgrade of public infrastructure damaged by the disaster including measures to assist in the mitigation of future damage due to natural disasters.
- Assistance for the increased costs associated with the revaluation and assessment of property due to a natural disaster that occurred in 2008.
- Small business assistance.
- Assistance for the replacement and rehabilitation of housing.
These categories are not prioritized. Applicants may have multiple individual projects falling within different categories. The applicant is responsible for determining the best uses for the grant funds based on their own unique situation.
Eligible counties must have submitted an application to Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) no later than April 1, 2009. Click here to access the HSEMD Web site.