Dallas County Treasurer Mitch Hambleton announced Tuesday that his office will waive fees on requests for duplicate copies of vehicle registations and vehicles titles from county residents impacted by this month’s devastating flooding.
Hambleton said duplicates will be issued at no cost through April 21.
The treasurer also clarified last week’s announcement by the Iowa Depatment of Revenue of a one-month waiver of interest and penalties on property taxes paid late as a result of the impact of the flooding.
“They don’t have the ability to waive late fees on property taxes for counties,” Hambleton explained to the Dallas County Board of Supervisors. “However, that decision is left up to each county. I have instructed my staff that we’re not going to waive late fees on property taxes unless they give us a written statement citing how they’re impacted by the flooding. At that point, we would bring them back to the board of supervisors because my office can’t waive those types of penalities. You guys have the ability to do that.”
The supervisors did not take any action but indicated agreement with Hambleton’s view.
“I don’t anticipate that we’ll have any requests,” Hambelton said, “but I wanted you to be aware of it if there is something that may be coming your way.”
Along with the county assistance for individuals, the state is administering federal flood-relief funds available to public and nonprofit entities in flood-impacted counties.
The disaster declaration issued by U.S. President Donald J. Trump March 23 made 56 Iowa counties eligible to apply for emergency work and emergency protective measures assistance under the federal Public Assistance Program.
Twenty of those counties are now eligible to apply for additional assistance for permanent work through the Public Assistance Program, to include the replacement or repair of disaster damaged facilities such as roads, bridges and public buildings.
The counties that may now apply for permanent work assistance under the Public Assistance Program are: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Crawford, Dallas, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Harrison, Ida, Jasper, Lyon, Marshall, Mills, Monona, Polk, Pottawattamie, Shelby, Sioux, Winneshiek and Wright.
Additional counties may be added to the Presidential Disaster Declaration for the Public Assistance Program.
The president’s declaration also made available federal Individual Assistance for five counties, which provides aid to eligible homeowners, renters, and businesses. Residents in Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona and Woodbury counties are eligible to apply for this program, regardless of income.
Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated area can begin applying for assistance by registering online at the federal Disaster Assistance Improvement Program or by calling 1-800-621-3362 or 1-800-462-7585 TTY. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time), seven days a week, until further notice.
At the state level, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Wednesday a proclamation of public health disaster emergency for the state as a result of the devastating flooding. The proclamation authorizes the Iowa Department of Public Health to take necessary action to protect the public’s health and provides for the mobilization of public health response teams.
“Local resources and capabilities are quickly becoming overwhelmed,” Reynolds said in signing the proclamation. “Authorizing the mobilization of public health response teams will ease that burden as this emergency event continues.”
Members of public health response teams are volunteers from health care institutions, local public health and environmental agencies, county medical examiner’s offices, private industry, the Office of the State Medical Examiner and state public health staff.
Reynolds said these teams have been an important part of the public health response system since the first team was established in 2003.
“Governor Reynold’s proclamation will give the department more flexibility to respond to public health emergencies as needed,” said Iowa Department of Public Health Director Gerd Clabaugh. “Our staff and trained volunteers are ready to respond to and help affected Iowans recover from the floods.”
Long-term federal recovery dollars through the FEMA Public Assistance Program are available to help public entities and select nonprofit organizations in the following 56 Iowa counties: Adair, Allamakee, Audubon, Boone, Bremer, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dallas, Decatur, Dickinson, Emmet, Fayette, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Howard, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jasper, Kossuth, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marshall, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Page, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Sac, Shelby, Sioux, Tama, Union, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Woodbury and Wright.
Hazard-mitigation funding is also open to the entire state. With this federal funding, Iowans will be able to minimize the impact of future disasters by taking steps to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards.
Other counties may be added to the declaration as additional damage continues to be reported to the state.
For more information on flood recovery resources available to Iowans, visit the state’s flood relief website or contact 2-1-1.
