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County considers ways to pay the bills in the event of a massive hurricane
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After a hurricane tears through a county, ravaging homes, injuring residents and generally wreaking havoc, the first thing on everyone's mind usually isn't the public purse strings.
But when natural disasters occur, local governments' pocketbooks are also in the path of the storm.
For governments that need property tax revenue to function, the biggest financial challenge after a storm is coming up with the money to rebuild as tax revenue slows to a trickle.
That's why Beaufort County hosted a roundtable Wednesday to teach local officials how to react swiftly to lessen the financial impact of hurricanes.
Consultants from Miami-based PBS&J talked with county, municipal, public service district and school officials about the financial stress that comes from major storms.
Summing up the daylong training, county administrator Gary Kubic said, "We would have to continue to operate as a government for long periods of time without a property tax base."
But "if you rely on property taxes to fund government services and you don't generate the same amount of funds, how do you exist? How do you survive?"
The consultants, who worked with local governments in Mississippi during hurricane recoveries, gave the roundtable group a number of suggestions, including:
• Reach out to lending institutions now so government officials know the process for getting loans after the storm.
• Put together financial information and review the forms the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires from local governments and residents trying to get recovery money.
"We can't waste a bit of time in pulling the triggers we need to pull in order to get the cash flow coming in from outside sources," Kubic said.
Officials also discussed thorny questions such as:
• How quickly do you rebuild schools and key structures after a storm, while keeping in mind that it can take four years for the population of a hurricane-stricken area to reach pre-storm levels?
• What do officials do when their governments start incurring debt because of the heavy borrowing necessary to rebuild infrastructure?
The last time the county took a direct hit from a storm was in 1959 during Hurricane Gracie. After half a century of being spared, Kubic said many residents are skeptical a natural disaster could occur in the area.
Nevertheless, Kubic said it was the job of local officials -- many of whom have drawn up extensive plans to deal with the physical impact of a hurricane -- to prepare financially.
STORM SEASON OUTLOOK>/b>
• A noted hurricane researcher at Colorado State University predicted Wednesday that rising water temperatures in the Atlantic will bring a "well above average" storm season this year, including four hurricanes that will reach at least Category 3 strength.
• The forecast calls for 15 named storms in the Atlantic -- eight of which will reach hurricane strength.
• Names chosen for the 2008 Atlantic storms: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred
Source: The Associated Press, www.hurricane.com
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