October 2005
Collier County Addresses FEMA
 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Deobligation and Floodplain Mapping
Collier County, Florida
 Other Concerns of Communities, Governments
and Organizations Statewide with FEMA
 Nick Casalanguida, Gary McAlpin, Debbie Wight
FEMA’s Disallowed Cost Initiative
 FEMA’s nationwide goal was recovery of $800 million
in obligated Funds through Disallowed Cost Initiative.
 $275 million deobligated in about 200 governments,
state agencies, schools and other entities, imposing
critical fiscal burdens on communities in the State of
Florida.
 $11.2 million deobligated from Collier County alone…
 FEMA Appeals decisions and litigation positions
assert no attention should be paid to FEMA decisions
relied on by local governments.
Collier County’s Deobligation
 Collier County received $13.9 million to restore beaches
damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
 FEMA revised allowable costs previously approved,
obligated and paid in 2012.
 Decisions without discussions
 Ignore existing rules, regulations, time constraints
 Opinions instead of technical facts
 Only one-way communications
 First Appeal in 2012, to date no Appeal action.
Collier’s Deobligation $11.2 Million
Collier’s Deobligation appeal based on:
 FEMA did not correctly determine the amount of eligible
replacement sand.
 FEMA erroneously rejected Collier’s engineering reports.
 FEMA improperly holding Collier to initial approved Scope
estimates.
 The Stafford Act disallows these FEMA deobligations.

Section 705(c)
Floodplain Mapping
 FEMA requested extensive data/detailed engineering to
support updated mapping.
 FEMA regulations require remapping when more accurate
data is available.
 Collier spent $400,000 to correct outdated maps.
 FEMA now claims:
 Inadequate funding prevents remapping flood areas
 Studies indicate thousands of homes in outdated floodplain
designations
 FEMA’s lack of funding for remapping is unacceptable and
costly to Collier County citizens.
Issues Remain Unresolved
 Individually, Collier not successful in getting response:
 10 years since storm events
 2 years since appeal filed; 1 year since meeting with
Regional Administrator
 Letters of support to FEMA from members of the
Congressional Delegation
Working Together
 Collier County is not unique with FEMA concerns and issues.
 FEMA has been non-responsive and totally lacked any urgency
in addressing the issues.
 Exploring broadening strategy across Florida
 10 years since storm events
 Coalition of agencies with comparable problems
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Retroactive deobligations?
Flood map issues?
Unified voice with focused, consistent message
State and federal participation of elected officials
Information, experiences and results sharing
Legal strategies and lawsuits
Wildlife & Habitats
Recommendations
 Working coalition of organizations with comparable
interests and problems is needed to address FEMA
actions and inactions burdening communities.
 Engagement and interaction with members of both the
Florida State Legislature and U.S. Congress are key.
 Others???
Coalition Participation
Governments, state agencies
and other organizations
statewide may fill out and
email a response using a
FEMA Issues Interest Form
posted on Collier County’s
website:
www.colliergov.net/femaissuescoalition