Year in Review: No. 4, Critics claim The Road Home meanders too much

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jan 3, 2007 by Terry O'Connor

While payouts were still painfully few as the first quarter of The Road Home program draws to a close, officials report interviews have been held or scheduled with 60,344 eligible homeowners affected by hurricanes Katrina or Rita.

That's enough to end the campout of one state legislator protesting on the lawn of the Governor's Mansion but it hasn't ended the strong criticism of the dawdling payout pace of the program.

Just 87 homeowners have closed on a relief amount with The Road Home through the first 12 weeks of the $7.5-billion program, or little more than seven homeowners per week. Nearly 90,000 people have applied.

ICF has been harshly criticized by lawmakers - culminating with a resolution directing Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to fire the company even though the Legislature has no authority to do so.

State Rep. Charmaine Marchand, D-New Orleans, went so far as to camp out on Capitol grounds to protest ICF's slow distribution of recovery money.

ICF Consulting, the administrator of The Road Home program, conceded Tuesday in a meeting at the Governor's Mansion that it's plagued by "technical delays" in assembling data for third-party verification and mistakes in valuing property.

Mike Byrne, The Road Home director for ICF, said the company continues to improve the aid process and make changes as it learns of problems in one of the largest grant programs in the nation's history. The private company's contract with the state is worth up to $756 million.

Much of the meeting was devoted to complaints by legislators regarding the slow pace and red tape involved in the disbursement of The Road Home funds by ICF.

"Many legislators were incensed at letters to their constituents offering minimal compensation, which ICF representatives now acknowledge may have been incorrect," State Rep. Tim Burns said. "ICF had based the awards on the use of an automated valuation method to calculate pre-storm fair market value using a set formula that is applied to a dwelling based upon its square footage.

"At the meeting, it was acknowledged by ICF and LRA representatives that such a formulaic approach was not correct for a city with neighborhoods as diverse as the greater New Orleans area."

Marchand said after the meeting substantial progress had been made in improving The Road Home program so she ended her vigil outside the State Capitol.

Meeting attendees included Blanco and state Reps. Peppi Bruneau, Juan Lafonta, J.P. Morrell and Cedric Richmond and state Sen. Ann Duplessis. Rep. Tim Burns and Sen. Tom Schedler from Mandeville also were there.

The program will now calculate pre-storm fair market value based upon recent appraisals, a federal financing database or appraiser archives. Recipients can appeal valuations.

Blanco said the legislative resolutions adopted were largely symbolic and firing ICF is not practical. "We just can't start from scratch," she said. "We have to make this process work better."

As of Tuesday, 89,403 applications had been received and 67.5 percent of all applicants have already set up or concluded their interviews.

The Road Home has calculated and made offers on 15,213 claims for a total of $1.13 billion so far.

An estimated 123,000 are expected to apply for up to $150,000 in compensation to help rebuild or relocate.