Bay County Commissioners eying Triumph funds for Hurricane Michael relief

Feb. 06--PANAMA CITY -- A proposal to use loans from Gulf Coast oil spill money for Hurricane Michael relief gained support from Bay County leaders on Tuesday.

The Bay County Commission directed its chairman, Philip Griffitts, to present a resolution to the Triumph Gulf Coast Board in support of allocating some money to offer loans to counties hit hard by the hurricane. The board is set to meet in Bay County on Friday to discuss the proposal.

"This is a great option," Griffitts said of the proposal.

The commission approved the resolution for the board during its regular Tuesday meeting.

The board oversees how settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster aids The Panhandle. The nonprofit is responsible for distributing 75 percent of $2 billion the state will get through the settlement over the next 12 years. The other 25 percent of the settlement goes to the state for general spending.

A quickly accessible stream of money would help lift the burden of recovery off the county's shoulders. The county faces an estimated $450 million total disaster recovery bill and has already accepted a $50 million bank loan to help pay initial cleanup costs.

Specifically, the commission expressed its desire that money be allocated for bridge loans to Bay, Franklin, Gulf and Wakulla Counties, along with their cities, to help cover spending on hurricane recovery like debris removal. The idea is to get low interest loans quickly to pay for recovery while waiting for reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a process that could take years.

"The loans would create float, essentially, instead of borrowing from banks in the commercial market," said Bob Majka, county manager. "Hopefully, the cost of borrowing from Triumph will be lower ... the interest rates will be lower overall."

Majka noted, however, that the county didn't support using Triumph money to pay for infrastructure projects. Majka said such projects are more long-term, requiring more commitment from Triumph and offering less opportunity for low interest loans.

"I support it as long as we do it the correct way ... if we can get a quick turnaround and then pay it back when we're reimbursed," Commissioner Bill Dozier said of using Triumph money. "And anytime we can keep that interest rate low ... I think that's a good thing."

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