$1.1B flood recovery spending plan outlined by province
CBC News | Posted: March 14, 2014 5:19 PM | Last Updated: March 14, 2014
Alberta government says $518 million has been set aside for 2014-15
The Alberta government says it approved nearly $3.8 billion worth of flood recovery projects in 2013 and another $518 million has been set aside for the coming year.
Next year’s planned spending is part of a three-year commitment in budget 2014 to earmark $1.1 billion for flood recovery and mitigation initiatives, the government said in a written release on Friday.
Next year’s expenditures include:
- $32 million for local flood mitigation.
- $28 million in property tax relief.
- $35 million to complete the floodway relocation program.
- $25 million for flood recovery erosion control grants.
- $3.5 million to complete flood hazard studies, update the existing map and map new areas.
- $25 million to support mental health initiatives and general well-being of flood-impacted Albertans.
- $4 million to repair and protect health facilities from future flooding.
- $25 million for education initiatives, including flood mitigation for damaged schools, enrolment and program stabilization and supports for modular classrooms.
- $36 million for flood mitigation on roads and bridges.
- $9.7 million for water and waste water management projects.
- More than $9 million for mitigation projects in provincial parks.
The 2013 expenditures included more than $3 billion through the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) plus another $800 million to be spent on DRP-related initiatives in 2014, including repairs to infrastructure and recovery assistance for property owners.
This money is eligible for reimbursement by the federal government, the province said.
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Since the flood more than 4,500 payments — totalling more than $46 million — have been issued to Albertans through the DRP.
The province also said it is continuing to work with the insurance industry to reduce the application backlog, which is down to 850 files on hold, a 60 per cent reduction from Dec. 1.
“The Alberta government is committed to completing 90 per cent of eligible residential DRP applications by the end of March 2014,” the release said.