[StBernard] LRA revises formula for Road Home benefits

[Westley Annis]

LRA revises formula for Road Home benefits
By Laura Maggi
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE - As they begin to implement the state's much-anticipated Road
Home program, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the contractor hired to
manage it say they have tweaked the benefit packages in a way that will give
the owners of hurricane-damaged houses enough money to go home. 

Homeowners will still be allowed to sell their houses to the state, relocate
within Louisiana, rebuild on a lot from scratch or repair damaged
structures. But under changes agreed to by ICF International and the LRA,
grant amounts will be determined by the level of damage to a house, state
officials said. 

If a house is declared more than 50 percent damaged by local authorities and
categorized as having "severe" damage by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the exact level of damage to the house will not figure into the
grant calculation. 

Instead, the house will be considered totaled and the grant will be based on
the pre-storm value of the home, minus insurance and FEMA payments, up to a
grant cap of $150,000, said Andy Kopplin, the executive director of the
recovery authority. A technician will be sent to the house to double-check
the parish damage estimate, he said. 

A house with less than 50 percent damage will prompt an ICF inspection to
estimate the cost of repairs. The That estimate, minus insurance and FEMA
awards, would be used to determine the size of the grant , Kopplin said. All
grants are limited by the pre-storm value of a house and the $150,000 cap. 
Under the $7.5 billion program, owners inside a FEMA-determined floodplain
who did not carry flood insurance will still have their grant reduced by a
30 percent penalty.. And the grant for homeowners who sell their houses to
the LRA and move out of state will still be set at only 60 percent of the
pre-storm value of the property, with the maximum again set at $150,000. 

Kopplin said the changes to the grant calculations are based on
conversations with ICF's staff as they try to determine how to implement the
policy guidelines approved by the recovery authority. 

While ICF International does not expect to open housing centers across the
state wherehomeowners will submit their applications until the end of
August, a pilot office recently opened in Baton Rouge test the system, using
400 randomly-selected homeowners. 

Walter Leger, who heads up the recovery authority's housing task force, said
the latest incarnation of the program offers people a realistic level of
assistance. 

"We have always said from day one that we wanted to calculate the amount of
money to repair a house," he said. For example, Leger said owners of a house
flooded to the rooftop will likely need money equivalent to its pre-storm
value to pay for repairs or rebuild, even if local officials estimated the
damage at 80 percent. 

Leger said estimating repair costs also is a more homeowner-friendly way of
dealing with less-damaged structures. 

The previous method of determining the grant amount called for multiplying
the damage percentage by the pre-storm value of the house, and then
subtracting various payments already received by the homeowner. The
inspection method will provide homeowners with a quality estimate to give to
a contractor, he said. 

Bob Santucci, ICF's program manager in charge of the inspection process,
said the company intends to employ three levels of inspectors: those
internally trained to inspect houses; people who have inspection experience,
perhaps with insurance companies; and inspectors trained as engineers or
with other extensive higher education. There are currently 12 of the
top-tier inspectors evaluating houses for the pilot program, Santucci said,
while the less-experienced staff should be used more as the program gets off
the ground. 

The home evaluations will be based on a database of cost estimates tailored
to "hurricane recovery situations" and the local parish, Santucci said. All
of the estimates will also include a 10 percent contingency figure to cover
unforeseen costs. 

Prices will be based on "moderate" costs of replacing household components. 

Santucci said the inspectors also will estimate the cost of elevating
houses, as the LRA will require houses with more than 50 percent damage to
meet new FEMA advisory base flood elevations. The recovery authority has
indicated it would provide elevation assistance for less damaged houses if
it is cost-effective to raise them. 

Once completed, the evaluation will be sent to a homeowner's housing
adviser, who will determine the grant amount, figuring in the insurance and
other payments. The advisers also will be expected to help families figure
out whether it makes more sense to rebuild or relocate, based on how much
money they will be receiving, Santucci said. 

Mike Byrne, the chief program executive of the Road Home program for ICF,
said the company wants to open a call center to offer homeowners guidance on
their options before the housing assistance centers open at the end of
August. 

The call center will be responsible for calling those who have registered
for the program to set up appointments to meet with advisers. 

According to deadlines set by the state, ICF has five months to get all of
the initial applications completed. While the company "is trying to be
creative," Byrne acknowledged that it could be "some months" before some
homeowners can submit their applications. Officials believe it will take six
to eight weeks to process standard applications and longer for those with
title or other documentation problems. 

Homeowners can make their initial registrations for the Road Home program by
calling a 24-hour toll-free hotline at (888) 762-3252 (888-ROAD2LA), or
online at www.louisianarebuilds.info.