Bloomington City Council members who have pushed for direct aid for residents who suffered flood damage this summer said a low number of applicants to a state program likely doesn’t fully explain the scope of the damage.
In September, the city council narrowly rejected providing direct aid to residents whose basements were flooded with raw sewage or suffered other flood damage. The council opted instead to see how much demand there would be for a state program that offers forgivable loans of up to $45,000.
Three weeks into the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) program, only a small fraction of the 500 Bloomington residents who reported damaged have applied for help.
City council member Mollie Ward, who represents much of northwest Bloomington in Ward 7, has pushed for the city to fund relief on its own. She's concerned that number may be misleading. “That’s precisely my concern, that people will say we didn’t run down the IHDA funds so therefore we don’t really have a problem. I don’t think that’s true,” Ward said.
The city rolled out the program nearly four months after the storms hit. Ward said many residents likely couldn't afford to wait on that funding, so they drove themselves into debt and it's too late for them to apply now.
“What about those people who are not able to afford that work, what are they going to do when it gets cold,” Ward said. “For those folks who have been able to, I don’t know, run up a credit card bill or something like that, how are they going to pay that off.”
Monica Enriquez with the IHDA’s Single Family Rehabilitation (SFR) program, confirmed IHDA does not pay for work that’s already been completed. She said the city received $100,000 in additional funds for fund relief. She said that would likely assist only about three residents because any approved funding would have to be sufficient to make the home livable again.
Katherine Murphy, the City of Bloomington's communications and external affairs manage, said 61 residents who pre-applied for the funding will be mailed an application on Nov. 8. She said if the city reaches $100,000 in relief, the council will consider spending an additional $250,000 for the SFR program, or another form of housing relief.
City council member Jamie Mathy, who represents south-central Bloomington’s Ward 1, said it’s likely some residents failed to meet income requirements, and messaging around the phrases “100-year-flood” and “Act of God” as a way to deny insurance claims may have discouraged some from applying.
“Messaging has never been any municipality’s strong point,” Mathy said. “People heard something, latched onto it and wouldn’t let it go, even when you try to explain why this happened. We all know there was just a ton of rain.”
Several critics of the plan on the council have suggested it may not be legal to provide direct relief to residents, a concern also raised by city administration.
“I look at the Illinois constitution and it only seems to allow use of public funds for public purposes. I’m really concerned about using public tax dollars in a relief fund,” Ward 9 (northeast Bloomington) council member Tom Crumpler said when the council voted 4-3 against direct relief, opting instead to see how much demand there was for assistance through the IHDA and other programs.
Ward 8 (southeast Bloomington) council member Jeff Crabill suggested the city model its aid after what Gibson City did to help residents who suffered flood damage there this summer. The Ford County community gave $250,000 emergency funding to a foundation to distribute for repairs.
“I just see it as more support for the position that we’ve taken to help residents that don’t have any other resources,” Crabill said.
Ward said she wants to see the full scope of the damage to see what the city should fund. She said the city hasn't produced that data yet.
Mathy said he doesn’t believe there’s enough council support for direct aid. “I would like to see us do more. I don’t think we have the votes to make that happen,” he said, adding he was away at a funeral during the meeting in September when the council narrowly voted against direct funding.
Ward 6, covering parts of downtown and southwest Bloomington, was without representation at the time. New council member De Urban hasn’t indicated whether she supports direct aid. She has denied WGLT’s request for an interview.
Split voting
The city council's recent 5-4 vote over the appointment of Urban split largely along ideological lines. Progressives opposed her appointment to serve in Ward 6 for the final 18 months of Jenn Carrillo’s term. Carrillo resigned from the council in August.
Crabill cast one of the "no" votes, but said the non-partisan council has not yet fallen into partisan camps on every issue.
“I wouldn’t say it’s quite block voting. You will see some people move in different directions based on the issue at hand,” Crabill said.
