Schor Proposes Disaster Relief Fund in Budget Amendment

Courtesy of Scott Bean

Mayor Andy Schor announced today that he is proposing to create a Disaster Relief Fund within the city budget to help the City pay for costs associated with natural disasters and other emergency situations. “Lansing recently saw widespread damage from strong winds that downed trees and caused power outages across the region. We are cleaning up the City and expending resources and dollars to do it,” Mayor Schor stated. “We will ask for reimbursement of these costs from FEMA, and until then I am proposing to invest available dollars to create a fund that we can use for future emergencies to ensure that Lansing has the immediate funding to face any challenge.” The proposal would create a new Disaster Relief Fund within the City budget and immediately appropriate $500,000. This money will be used to pay the City’s costs to clean-up damage from the late August storm. As outlined in the City and State emergency declarations, Lansing will apply for reimbursement for our costs. Reimbursements will restore this new account to be at the ready in the case of future disasters or emergencies. Schor has been speaking with City Council President Carol Wood on the proposal and anticipates it will move quickly through Council’s legislative process.