Severe weather costs Michigan millions. Can funding meet demands?

But if all pending fund requests were settled tomorrow, the balance would unofficially stand at a negative $15.1 million, said Lauren Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Division of Emergency Management and Security. interior of the state police.

“At current funding levels,” she added, “there is not enough money in the (Disaster Emergency Fund) to cover current or future disaster needs.” .

Although the number of requests for emergency funds has remained similar from year to year, Phillips said, what has not been the case is the severity of the disasters.

Billion-dollar weather events increased 130% across the country over the past five years, compared to previous decades, according to 2022 data from the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures .

Michigan hasn’t experienced such a costly weather event, but as McGinnis said, “Thank God it wasn’t our community — next time it might be.”

These extreme weather conditions can result in higher cleanup costs. So high that some communities’ bills are still unpaid a year later.

Flood cleanup costs in the Upper Peninsula after rapid snowmelt in 2023 are estimated at more than $5.1 million in state contingency funds. Tornadoes and severe storms that hit nine Lower Peninsula counties later that same year are also estimated to have removed just over $4.1 million from the fund.

The state has not yet approved the requested reimbursements.

He approved $5.6 million in other disaster relief funds and owes about $3.7 million to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for cleaning up several central and southeastern counties of Michigan following severe weather in 2023.

Those payments will leave the fund with a $5.9 million deficit, according to state police data. The damage to Portage, as well as neighboring Texas and Pavillion townships, was not even taken into account.

McGinnis, the city manager, remains optimistic about Portage’s expectation of reimbursement. He expects “some pretty thick bureaucracy that we’ll have to tolerate,” but he said that means the process is thorough.

“We need to be very judicious in how we reimburse and support communities that have been affected by disasters,” he said. “It takes a little time to make sure we are considerate and responsible with taxpayer dollars.”

“Increasing costs of natural disasters”

Whitmer and legislative leaders appear to agree on the need to increase funding for disaster cleanup.

But how to do that and how much to allocate remains a point of contention as lawmakers work to finalize the state budget in the coming weeks or months.

House Democrats are proposing an alternative to the state’s traditional cleanup fund: $50 million for a new “emergency climate change disaster relief” fund.

That money would be used to cover “natural events caused by climate change resulting in negative economic impacts, widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life” that would not otherwise be eligible for federal assistance.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether the plan would conflict with state law, which requires lawmakers to maintain the traditional disaster emergency fund.

“I think we all have a common goal: making sure we have more money for natural disasters,” said Jason Morgan, an Ann Arbor Democrat who oversees the state’s police budget subcommittee. State of the House.