Nixon: State to pick up Joplin's tornado cleanup tab

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon said Monday that the state will pay Joplin's share of a multimillion-dollar tab for cleaning up rubble on residential property after a devastating tornado tore through the city in May.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying 90 percent -- instead of its normal 75 percent -- of the cost of debris clean up in some of the hardest-hit areas as part of a special offer that ends Sunday. Nixon said the state will pay the remaining 10 percent of the cost, sparing Joplin the extra financial burden at a time when the tornado already has taken a hit on local tax revenue.

The exact amount of the state's share was unclear Monday; a Nixon spokesman said that was still being calculated by federal officials.

The May 22 tornado killed 160 people and damaged or destroyed about 8,000 homes and businesses in the Joplin area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is coordinating the debris cleanup of streets and residential properties where the owners have granted permission for contractors to come on their property or where the city has declared a health nuisance, said Mark Haviland, a corps spokesman in Joplin. Commercial property owners must arrange their own debris removal, and some residential property owners also have used other debris haulers.

As of the end of July, government contractors had cleared 1,281 of the 1,485 residential lots in the area eligible for the expedited debris removal program and had removed 1.4 million cubic yards of debris out of an estimated total of 1.5 million cubic yards, Haviland said.

Although Nixon and Missouri's two U.S. senators have asked for an extension of the enhanced federal payment rate for debris removal, Haviland said corps officials are confident the remaining rubble in the expedited removal zone can be cleared within the week.

Nixon traveled to Joplin on Monday to announce the state's pledge to cover debris cleanup. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also came to Joplin on Monday to meet with administrators and doctors from St. John's Regional Medical Center. Sebelius was highlighting the fact that the hospital had recently converted from paper to electronic medical records before getting slammed by the tornado -- a move which she said may have saved lives by allowing injured tornado victims to more quickly receive treatment at other hospitals.

While in Joplin, Nixon said that he wants the Missouri Department of Revenue and the State Tax Commission to study the tornado's effect on property and sales tax revenue for cities, counties, schools, fire departments, water districts and other local public entities. He said the study will analyze the potential impact on services provided by those entities.

Nixon already has pledged $150 million of state aid for disaster relief and recovery efforts, the largest chunk of which is likely to go to Joplin. But the state may also have costs from flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and from tornadoes in St. Louis and Sedalia. The governor has said disaster-related issues will be part of the special legislative session he intends to call for September.