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City of Barrie urges codified buyout program in H.397, cites delays and limits of FEMA aid
Summary
City officials told the Government Operations Committee that frequent floods have driven demand for voluntary buyouts, but FEMA timelines and the permanence of federal buyouts limit municipal options; witnesses asked that H.397 create a standalone state buyout program and requested local funding tweaks and a river gauge for better warning.
City Manager Nicholas Strelikastro of the city of Barrie told the Senate Government Operations Committee on April 29 that repeated floods in 2023 and 2024 left the city with dozens of homeowners seeking voluntary buyouts and exposed limits in existing federal and state programs.
"We were hit hard not just in '23, but, again, on the anniversary date in '24," Strelikastro said, arguing that language in H.397 to create a standalone buyout program would give municipalities a clearer tool for hazard mitigation.
The city reported 60 applicants for buyouts; Strelikastro said the municipality had approved 27 of those and that FEMA had approved 21 of the proposals, but that the city had not yet closed any buyouts. He told lawmakers FEMA-funded buyouts are helpful but take years and are permanent land-use changes that remove parcels from the municipal tax base.
"Anytime we give up a parcel to a FEMA buyout, that is gone forever from property tax revenue, from development, from housing," Strelikastro said. He described the city's narrow use of FEMA buyouts to target clustered properties along the river…
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