§ 418.9 — Project application review

Iowa § 418.9

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title IX: LOCAL GOVERNMENT
• Ch. 418: FLOOD MITIGATION PROGRAM

Text

1. a. A governmental entity shall submit an application to the board for approval of
a project plan. The board shall not approve a project for inclusion in the program if the
application is submitted after January 1, 2016.
b. The application shall specify whether the governmental entity is requesting financial
assistance from the flood mitigation fund or approval for the use of sales tax revenues.
Applications for financial assistance from the flood mitigation fund shall describe the type
and amount of assistance requested. Applications for the use of sales tax revenues shall
state the amount of sales tax revenues necessary for completion of the project.
2. Each application shall include or have attached to the application, the governmental
entity’sprojectplanadoptedundersection418.4, subsection2. Whenreviewingapplications,
in addition to the project plan, the board shall consider, at a minimum, all of the following:
a. Whether the project is designed to mitigate future flooding of property that has
sustained significant flood damage and is likely to sustain significant flood damage in the
future.
b. Whether the project plan addresses the impact of flooding both upstream and
downstream from the area where the project is to be undertaken and whether the project
conforms to any applicable floodplain ordinance.
c. Whether the area that would benefit from the project’s flood mitigation efforts is
sufficiently valuable to the economic viability of the state or is of sufficient historic value to
the state to justify the cost of the project.
d. The extent to which the project would utilize local matching funds. The board shall
not approve a project unless at least fifty percent of the total cost of the project, less any
federal financial assistance for the project, is funded using local matching funds, and unless
the project will result in nonpublic investment in the governmental entity’s area as defined
in section 418.11, subsection 3, of an amount equal to fifty percent of the total cost of
the project. For purposes of this paragraph, “nonpublic investment” means investment by

nonpublic entities consisting of capital investment or infrastructure improvements occurring
in anticipation of or as a result of the project during the period of time between July 1, 2008,
and ten years after the board approved the project.
e. The extent of nonfinancial support committed to the project from public and nonpublic
sources.
f. Whether the project is designed in coordination with other watershed management
measures adopted by the governmental entity or adopted by the participating jurisdictions
of the governmental entity, as applicable.
g. Whether the project plan is consistent with the applicable comprehensive emergency
plan in effect and other applicable local hazard mitigation plans.
h. Whether financial assistance through the flood mitigation program is essential to
meet the necessary expenses or serious needs of the governmental entity related to flood
mitigation.
3. If requested by the board during consideration of an application, the governmental
entity shall pay for an independent engineering review of the project to determine the
technical feasibility, engineering standards, and total estimated cost of the project. An
engineering review required by the board under this subsection may be completed by the
United States army corps of engineers.
4. Upon review of the applications, the board, following consultation with the economic
development authority, shall approve, defer, or deny the applications. If a project plan is
denied, the board shall state the reasons for the denial and the governmental entity may
resubmit the application so long as the application is filed on or before January 1, 2016. If
a project plan application is approved, the board shall specify whether the governmental
entity is approved for the use of sales tax revenues under section 418.12 or whether the
governmentalentityisapprovedtoreceivefinancialassistancefromthefloodmitigationfund
under section 418.10. If the board approves a project plan application that includes financial
assistance from the flood mitigation fund, the board shall negotiate and execute on behalf of
the department all necessary agreements to provide such financial assistance. If the board
approves a project plan application that includes the use of sales tax increment revenues, the
board shall establish the annual maximum amount of such revenues that may be remitted
to the governmental entity not to exceed the limitations in section 418.12, subsection 4. The
board may, however, establish remittance limitations for the project lower than the individual
project remittance limitations specified for projects under section 418.12, subsection 4.
5. Theboardshallnotapproveaprojectplanapplicationthatincludesfinancialassistance
from the flood mitigation fund or the use of sales tax revenue to pay principal and interest on
or to refinance any debt or other obligation existing prior to the approval of the project.
6. Theboardshallnotapproveaprojectplanapplicationforwhichtheamountofsalestax
increment revenue remitted to the governmental entity would exceed fifteen million dollars
in any one fiscal year or if approval of the project would result in total remittances in any one
fiscal year for all approved projects to exceed, in the aggregate, thirty million dollars.
7. Upon approval of an application for financial assistance under the program, the board
shallnotifythetreasurerofstateregardingtheamountofmoneysneededtosatisfytheaward
of financial assistance and the terms of the award. The treasurer of state shall notify the
department any time moneys are disbursed to a recipient of financial assistance under the
program.
8. If, following approval of a project application under the program, it is determined that
the amount of federal financial assistance exceeds the amount of federal financial assistance
specified in the application, the board shall reduce the award of financial assistance from
the flood mitigation fund or reduce the amount of sales tax revenue to be received for the
project by a corresponding amount. However, in a county with a population of less than one
hundred thousand but more than ninety-three thousand five hundred as determined by the
2010 federal decennial census and for projects that received bids during the 2015 calendar
year, the amount of sales tax revenue to be received for the project shall not be reduced if the
additional federal financial assistance does not reduce the need for sales tax revenue due to

an increase in project costs incurred following the approval of the project application under
the program.