The City of St. Catharines plans to spend an unprecedented $20 million to help residents recover from two major flooding episodes that occurred earlier this summer.
Council voted unanimously to approve a plan to increase the Emergency Flood Alleviation Program’s (FLAP) funding for this year from $150,000 to $20 million.
More than 3,000 residents have applied to access the program thus far, an increase from the typical few dozen applications the city receives in a normal year.
Because cities cannot borrow money to fund this kind of a program, St. Catharines Councillors have approved of a plan to transfer $5 million from the wastewater reserve to fund the extra FLAP funding, as well as reallocate $15 million from existing funding for capital projects and borrow money to fund those capital projects instead.
FLAP offers rebates to residents who take measures to help prevent basement flooding by installing things like sump pumps and backwater values. It covers up to 90 per cent of flood prevention expenses that are eligible under the program, with a maximum value of $5,000.
With $20 million allocated, that means the city can fund up to 4,000 successful FLAP applications, which officials expect will be reached. That means that, even if residents apply for the program, there is no guarantee that they will be one of the 4,000 that are funded by the city.
Mayor Mat Siscoe and other local politicians continue to hope that the province will step in to help fund the program and other elements of the city’s recovery, but, in the meantime, Council wanted to move forward with a plan to fund the FLAP.
The city has requested that the province fund its increased FLAP costs through the Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance Program, although word from the province remains to be forthcoming.
Under the FLAP’s old rules, a city inspector had to inspect a property before it could qualify for the program. The city changed the program earlier this summer, after unprecedented demand, so that a licensed contractor can simply do the assessment.
The work still has to be completed by a licensed plumber to qualify.
The property must also have been built before 2012, must be located within city limits, and must be connected to the city’s sanitary sewer system.
Importantly, properties do not actually have to have experienced flooding in order to qualify. Residents can undertake flooding prevention as a precautionary measure to prevent future episodes.
To find out more about the program, or to apply, St. Catharines residents can click HERE.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
