tamatoledo news.com- DES MOINES -(SPECIAL)- Recent allocations by the 2010 Iowa Legislature and the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) have pushed recovery funds allocated to the 2008 disaster past $4 billion.

During the 2010 Iowa Legislative Session, lawmakers approved nearly $65 million in recovery funds for state and community recovery programs. In April, the EDA also made several significant announcements including $35 million to the City of Cedar Rapids for construction of the new downtown events center, $3 million to the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce to build a Regional Commerce Center and Small Business Incubator, and $22 million to Iowa City to fund the relocation of the North Wastewater Treatment Facility.

So far, more than $3.1 billion of Iowa’s $4 billion in disaster funds have been approved for use. More than $1.2 billion of the $4 billion has been spent.

In order to best explain each of the funding sources and details of how each is administered, the Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) has created a “State of Iowa Disaster Recovery Funding Sources” booklet. The booklet can be accessed on the RIO’s Web site homepage or by clicking: http://www.rio.iowa.gov/assets/funding_charts/funding_sources_booklet.pdf.

Many disaster assistance programs operate on a reimbursement basis. This method results in a gap between “spent” and “approved” funds. As projects move toward completion, money will be reimbursed to the homeowner, business, community or entity, which will be reflected in the “spent” column. For example, buyouts of disaster-impacted homes have just started to occur in Iowa. Once the buyout process is complete, the state will then see a large increase of funds in the “spent” column of the funding chart below.

Iowans can also follow the money as it moves through the system from federal agencies to local entities through monthly funding charts and graphs at www.rio.iowa.gov .