LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Lansing Mayor Andy Schor announced Monday he is proposing a Disaster Relief Fund within the city’s budget, to help pay for response efforts to natural disasters and other emergencies.
Following a series of severe storms across mid-Michigan late August, Lansing and the Board of Water & Light required several days to restore power to all residents and the city is still working to clean up the damage.
“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,” Schor said in a news release.
Schor’s proposal would create the Disaster Relief Fund and immediately appropriate $500,000 from the city budget.
Officials said the money would go toward paying the city’s costs of cleaning up damage from last month’s storm.
As the city and state emergency declarations specified, Lansing would then apply for reimbursement of those costs from the FEMA.
Reimbursements would restore the new account to be at the ready in case of future disasters or emergencies, the mayor’s release said.
Schor said he’s spoken with City Council President Carol Wood about the Disaster Relief Fund proposal, and he anticipates it should move quickly through City Council’s legislative process.
