Kossuth County reviews Drain 4 assessments, seeks accounting for $700,000 levy and FEMA funds

Kossuth County meeting participants spent a workshop session reviewing years of assessments for Drain 4, raising questions about how a $700,000 assessment posted in February 2024 was calculated and how FEMA reimbursements were applied.

Participants said the Drain 4 engineering and assessment work dates to 2017–2018, when the project was split into two phases. The record discussed a 2017 assessment for the Drain 4 main open ditch (listed in materials as fund/line 51011) of about $823,000 and a 2018 phase assessed at about $760,000. An engineer's report submitted to FEMA in September 2020 put the total assessable project cost at just under $1.9 million; meeting materials and participants said the county used 15% of that figure (about $300,000) as the landowner share cited in public hearings.

Why this matters: meeting participants said the county recorded multiple smaller repair requests and claims in 2019 across the drain's long extent (including requests for Lateral 11), and the timing of FEMA dollars and county accounting practices made it hard to trace which dollars were applied to which warrants. Materials reviewed at the meeting showed a February 2019 outstanding balance line (about $252,007.37 in one spreadsheet view) and other summary figures that participants tied to waivers and older warrants.

Key points discussed

- Assessments and project phases: Participants identified a 2017 Phase 1 assessment that included Drain 4 open ditch and Lot 71 and a 2018 Phase 2 assessment focused on the Drain 4 main open ditch. The 2017 and 2018 work was described in meeting materials as placed on 20-year waivers.

- Engineer estimate and landowner share: The September 2020 engineering report submitted to FEMA estimated assessable costs just under $1.9 million; meeting materials and remarks listed the landowner share at 15% (about $300,000), which participants said appeared in notices and public hearings.

- The contested $700,000 figure: Several participants questioned how the February 2024 assessment of $700,000 was derived. Staff and others described the $700,000 as a rounded "target" figure intended to reduce the outstanding balance to a level that anticipated incoming FEMA funds could complete payment of remaining project costs. Participants said there was no single automated report that produced the $700,000 figure because of the complexity of multiple projects, waivers, outstanding warrants and interest.

- FEMA receipts and accounting practice: Staff described that when FEMA dollars arrived they were posted against warrants in first-in, first-out order, which in practice caused FEMA payments to retire older warrants before those tied specifically to the Drain 4 project. Participants said this accounting outcome made it difficult to show the direct flow of FEMA funds to specific project invoices absent a detailed reconciliation.

- Interest and outstanding balances: One participant who compiled meeting spreadsheets presented an itemized calculation that showed phase-related interest not previously included in the principal project totals; that compilation listed roughly $268,589.62 in interest tied to Phase 1 in the presenter's calculations and total principal amounts for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of roughly $978,534.74 and $707,406.73 respectively (figures were read from the meeting spreadsheet and described as the original principal balances, not including later interest). Participants said those interest amounts had not been included in initial assessed totals and that waivers and partial payments complicated the running outstanding balance.

Requests and next steps

Meeting participants repeatedly requested a consolidated, traceable spreadsheet or reconciliation that would show: (a) each project or warrant, (b) the principal and interest incurred, (c) waivers applied, and (d) how FEMA and state reimbursements were posted to warrants over time. Several participants said that producing that reconciliation was necessary to explain to landowners why certain balances remained and how the county decided assessment amounts in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024. No formal vote or final decision on assessments was recorded in the transcript excerpt reviewed.

Ending

The workshop discussion closed with participants asking staff to assemble clearer documentation and calculations so the board and the public can trace the $700,000 assessment and related entries, including interest and how FEMA receipts were allocated. The transcript did not record a deadline or formal assignment recorded as a motion or vote.