18-04-2025
Bill would help local governments with Helene loans
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Rep. Timothy Hill's House Bill 1278 passed through the House Finance Committee on Thursday. The bill would allow counties to use some of Gov. Bill Lee's disaster relief funding for the interest on loans that local governments had to get to rebuild infrastructure following Hurricane Helene.
The senate version of the bill, Senate Bill 0646, is sponsored by Johnson City's Rusty Crowe, and currently sits in the Finance Ways and Means Committee.
Hill added an amendment allocating a portion of the funds to cover the administrative fees that otherwise would be covered by local taxpayers.
'What this does as amended, it allows for loan charges, which that's the origination fees, the application fees, appraisal fees, things like that, to be included in the fund,' Hill said. 'So counties can include that in their application process.'
The bill would also provide $3.7 million to Unicoi, Johnson and Washington counties, $5 million to Carter County, $3 million to Greene County, and $500,000 to Sullivan and Hawkins counties.
Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy said he sees that portion of funding as a way to take some of the tax burden off of the county residents.
'We haven't seen the rules, but we believe it can be used to offset some of the administration cost,' Grandy said. 'We know that the expectation is FEMA's going to cover 25% of the cost. The state's going to pick up another 20%, which leaves a 5% gap. So this may be a way that we can take that burden off of local taxpayer.'
The bill is scheduled to be brought to the floor for a vote on Monday.
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