The city of Wilmington, NC is hiring a lobbyist to make sure the federal government does its part to make sure that big houses are protected from hurricanes (County will hire beach lobbyist):
After the battering area beaches took from Hurricane Ophelia, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners said Monday that it’s more important than ever for the federal government to live up to its funding responsibility.
To try to make sure that happens, the commissioners agreed to allow room occupancy tax money to be used to hire a lobbyist to fight for that money for Wrightsville Beach’s upcoming nourishment project. The contract with Marlowe and Associates, a Washington-based coastal lobbying firm previously retained by local beach communities, is not to exceed $17,875.
The total cost for the beach replenishment project, scheduled for next year, is about $2.2 million.
The federal government historically has paid 65 percent of the cost, with the state and local governments sharing the remainder.
For the Wrightsville Beach project, that would have meant $1.43 million in federal funding. The local portion would be funded through a 3 percent tax on hotels and other accommodations.
But Rick Catlin, chairman of the New Hanover County Port, Waterway and Beach Commission, told the commissioners that the federal budget includes $890,000 for Wrightsville Beach’s nourishment project, $540,000 short of what the town needs.
These are the same issues as in New Orleans (adverse selection, moral hazard, etc) except the beneficiaries are, mostly, very rich.
