Illinois budget woes bottle up flood buyouts in Alexander County

State budget woes have bottled up buyout efforts in Alexander County, Illinois, frustrating county officials and a state representative.

Alexander County board chairman Chalen Tatum said his county has millions of dollars in federal funds in the bank to help fund buyouts in the Olive Branch, Illinois, area that were prompted by major flooding in 2011 that breached two levees and damaged about 200 structures.

But without matching funds from the state, the buyouts can't proceed, Tatum noted.

Tatum said buyouts were underway before Gov. Bruce Rauner froze the use of state funds earmarked for buyouts. Illinois State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, has filed legislation seeking $5 million in state money to go with the $9 million in federal funds to complete the buyout of structures that were damaged by the flooding.

Tatum said plans called for the buyout of 169 properties. Buyouts were completed on 42 of those properties before the governor halted state funding in July. Tatum said 50 more homes could have been bought out before the recent winter flood if state funding hadn't been frozen.

The latest flood topped the levee protecting the low-lying area in Southern Illinois. The Army Corps of Engineers won't allow the agricultural levee to be raised, Tatum said. Flood buyouts offer the only solution, he said.

Phelps, whose district includes Alexander County, insisted the governor has the power to free up state funding immediately so the buyout program can resume in Alexander County.

"He is trying to play politics," Phelps said.

The lawmaker lamented that residents in the Olive Branch and Miller City area have "been through so much." He said he hopes the Illinois Legislature will take up his bill when it reconvenes later this month.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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