• By JEREMY HARPER AND SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writers
• Published: Nov 26, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The federal government’s announcement Tuesday that it will cover a greater share of Hurricane Gustav-related costs amounts to a multimillion-dollar holiday gift for area cities and parishes still recovering from the September storm.

The federal government will cover 90 percent of eligible costs, up from 75 percent.

The announcement came two weeks after Walter Monsour, the chief administrative officer to Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby federal officials to increase the federal match.

And state officials had been pushing for weeks to get the federal government to cover 100 percent of the storm costs.

East Baton Rouge Parish Finance Director Marsha Hanlon notes the federal government covered 100 percent of storm-related damage from hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike.

For most local governments, the greatest Gustav expenses were storm debris pickup and overtime for government employees. The local governments typically pay storm-related costs up front and are partially reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Hanlon said the federal decision upping its match will save the city-parish $8.7 million.

At the 75 percent level, the city-parish would have spent $14.4 million, Hanlon said. At 90 percent, the city-parish match falls to $5.7 million.

In all, Gustav-related expenses incurred by the city-parish total $62.4 million. That doesn’t include damage sustained in the parish by other cities, the state and other government entities such as the East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission.

The match for the city-parish was calculated after the $3.6 million in insurance is applied to the total cost, Hanlon said.

She estimated the city-parish storm damage at:

• $49.8 million for removal of limbs, trees and other storm debris from city-parish roadside rights of way. The total also includes removal of leaning trees, hanging limbs and hazardous stumps.
• $6.8 million for overtime and other labor costs, materials, supplies and equipment.
• $4.8 million to repair public buildings, road and bridges, traffic signals, sewage pumping stations and other facilities.
• $1 million for mosquito abatement after the storm, when thousands were susceptible to West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases because of power outages.

The city of Central could save an estimated $100,000 from the federal match increase, said David Barrow, the executive assistant to Mayor Mac Watts.

Central has spent $1.5 million on hurricane debris cleanup, and already budgeted to pay 75 percent of that, Barrow said.

Rebecca Kelly, Zachary’s director of administration, said the city has already run up a $1 million bill for debris pickup and overtime. The change could save the city several hundred thousand dollars, she said.