Joplin Left with Huge Tornado-Related Expenses (ContributorNetwork)

The Joplin Globe reports the city of Joplin, Mo., might be left with lost revenue of over $17 million due to tornado-related expenses. The city's fiscal year, which starts Nov. 1, has a budget of $91.2 million. As much as 19 percent of that will likely deal with tornado cleanup and recovery efforts.

Part of the expenses come from items not covered by FEMA. Things such as removing foundations from destroyed homes, which aren't covered by demolition removal, will become expenses the city has to deal with. The scope of the tornado's damage path also plays a part in the city's budgetary woes. Because so much was damaged, city officials will have a hard time coming up with the money to pay for extra expenses.

A session of the Missouri General Assembly doesn't have the city of Joplin's request for more funding on their agenda. Even worse, FEMA had to divert funds from Joplin's rebuilding effort to victims of Hurricane Irene.

Missouri's Senators are on the case. Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt have chimed in on funding Joplin's cleanup. FEMA's diversion of sources disappointed both them. Hopefully Congress will follow through with some more money to help Joplin.

Joplin may have trouble finding money from outside sources. Perhaps some charities can divert some funding from their coffers to the city treasury. Contractors could also give discounts for their services.

Even though the tornado ripped apart Joplin more than three months ago, clearly there is still a lot of work to do. Thousands of buildings were destroyed and hundreds of businesses were decimated by the storm.

Joplin didn't do anything to deserve the tragedy of having 160 people die in an EF5 tornado. Yet somehow they are caught in the middle of a funding dilemma. Hurricanes, wildfires, extreme flooding and earthquakes are all causing a strain on emergency managers.

In the meantime, city leaders might have to get creative to find sources of funding. Sales tax receipts will be down for two reasons. First is that major retailers are still rebuilding after the storm. Second is that some people affected by the tornado left and won't return. They can always have fundraisers within the city. Other sources of income can be from raising sales taxes, but that would only cover expenses later on after it is too late. Residents would have to approve the funding measure as well.

Joplin deserves funding just as much as residents of Vermont who were stranded by floods due to Hurricane Irene. Neither the General Assembly nor Congress can abandon its citizens in their time of need.

William Browning, a lifelong Missouri resident, writes about local and state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Born in St. Louis, Browning earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri. He currently resides in Branson.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110904/us_ac/9071353_joplin_left_with_huge_tornadorelated_expenses

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