EUREKA, Calif. — Humboldt County Leaders are urging Congress to approve more disaster relief funding with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as more natural disasters cause damage across the nation.
“We have a lot of projects here that are three and four years old, that we have been band aiding together because we don’t have the money in the general fund to fix them, we need FEMA funds, or emergency funds available for projects like this,” said Humboldt County 1st District Supervisor, Rex Bohn.
According to leaders in Humboldt County, they are still waiting on about $11-Million dollars to finish over 400 repairs caused be disasters back in 2017 plus 2019 alone. This funding doesn’t include money they are waiting on from damage caused by more recent disasters.
“For them to reimburse us is taking so long that it is becoming a financial burden that right now, it has not always been such a big issue, but with our budget deficit and with the shape of our roads, it has become a bigger issue,” said Bohn.
Congress has not yet returned to be able to approve more FEMA funding, this means Humboldt County board of supervisors are looking at other ways to find funding, something Humboldt County residents will be voting on in November.
“If we are successful with Measure O, you will be paying a very slight increase, but all that money will go directly to roads with an oversight committee that makes sure it goes to complete roads,” said Bohn.
According to a survey conducted by FM3 in July, of 649 people in Humboldt County, 33% of people said they were voting yes on this measure, while 26% said they were voting no.