Sandy relief spending hits milestone in New Jersey

A new report shows more than $1 billion has been spent on the superstorm Sandy recovery effort, and the pace of spending is accelerating.

A total of $258.2 million was spent in the last three months of the year, compared to $175.5 million from July through September. Since the federal disaster appropriation was approved in February 2013, more than $1.02 billion has been spent in New Jersey.

That still leaves a lot of work undone.

More than $462 million in disaster relief remains committed but unspent, according to a year-end report from New Jersey to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development detailing the progress of disaster spending. A total of $3.3 billion in federal aid has earmarked for Sandy recovery in New Jersey.

The initiative that has drawn the most aid down, and the most ire, is the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program, which provides grants of up to $150,000 for qualifying homeowners to rebuild and/or elevate their Sandy damaged homes.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, RREM spent $144.7 million — or 20 percent more than during the summer months. Most of that improvement can be traced back to a change in reimbursement guidance from HUD. It had the effect of encouraging construction before the RREM grant money was actually awarded, according to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which oversees nearly all of the disaster spending in the state.

Nearly 4,100 homes — out of 8,800 that were accepted into the program — were under construction by the end of December. A DCA spokeswoman said on Jan. 15 that 353 homes had been rebuilt through the program, although only a relative few had been closed out of the program by completing their elevations.

Aside from RREM, the disaster funding also takes on multi-family housing construction, buying out frequently flooded properties, business loans, and paying for essential services in towns where their budgets haven't bounced back.

Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com

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