 |
Vitter Working With Fire District Leaders
01/28/10
For Immediate Release
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Leaders from St. Tammany Fire Protection District 12 participated in a conference call with U.S. Sen. David Vitter this afternoon to discuss the forgiveness of post-Katrina federal disaster loans.
Vitter, who has been a leader in the effort to have the federal government forgive billions of dollars in loans to public agencies in the Katrina impact zone, organized the call.
"While loan forgiveness is not guaranteed, Sen. Vitter's advocacy is an extremely positive sign," said FD12 Chief Darrell Guilott. "We are cautiously optimistic that our disaster recovery debts will be forgiven, saving our citizens significant tax money."
Following Katrina, FD12 was one of hundreds of impacted agencies that borrowed money from the federal government to expedite recovery and replace damaged or destroyed equipment. FD12 borrowed $513,000, which was used for expenses incurred for overtime expenses, supplies, and the increased cost of essential items for operation during and following Katrina. Without the loan forgiveness, the Fire District would have to repay the loan from its general fund, greatly impacting the services we provide our community.
"Sen. Vitter and his staff have been extremely helpful to us on numerous occasions," said FD12 Deputy Chief Stephen Krentel. "We continue to appreciate his work on our behalf at the federal level."
FD12 serves an area surrounding the city of Covington, including the busy Hwy. 190 business corridor. For more information about Fire District 12, visit http://www.FD12.org.
Media contact: James Hartman, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 504.458.4600
|
|
|
