Storm-Related FEMA Relief,

Tax Filing Extensions Being Offered

By John Voket

Despite the inconveniences posed by lack of power and other utility services, some affecting residents for as many as nine days, Newtown emerged from the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene relatively unscathed.

Rob Sibley, Newtown’s Deputy Director of Planning and Land Use, as well as the community’s liaison to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been meeting with FEMA for several days. 

“The preliminary totals we had in Newtown were: one destroyed structure, one major damaged structure, two minor damage and ten effected,” Mr Sibley told The Newtown Bee on Thursday, September 8. “These numbers help the feds determine the levels and types of funding for states, counties, and individuals.”

Mr Sibley said he will be attending FEMA information workshops next Wednesday and Thursday to better attend to any questions he will be receiving. Residents and businesses who were impacted by Hurricane Irene may register for disaster assistance by November 3, by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362); The TTY line for people with speech or hearing disabilities is 800-462-7585; or going online to www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

If residents have disaster assistance questions, they may call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362

If a resident or business called 211, submitted their damage information to their town or were visited by a FEMA assessment team, they still need to register with FEMA to be eligible for assistance.

Whether applying online or over the phone, an applicant should have a pen and paper and the following information ready:

*Your Social Security number (for a business, you will need your EIN number)

*Current and predisaster address.

*A telephone number where you can be contacted.

*Insurance information.

*Total household annual income (Business: financial information)

*A routing and account number from your bank (if you want to have disaster assistance funds transferred directly into your bank account)

*A description of your losses that were caused by the disaster.

*Directions to your property.

After you have completed your application for assistance, you will receive a FEMA application number. Mr Sibley recommends writing down this number and keep it for future reference.

Connecticut Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) opened on Thursday, September 8, at noon. Regular hours for these centers will be Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 7 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm.

The Connecticut DRC location for Fairfield County is the Western Greenwich Civic Center, 449 Pemberwick Road, Greenwich.

DRCs will be staffed with state and federal disaster recovery specialists, including representatives from the Small Business Administration, who will provide information and answer questions about disaster assistance programs.

Public Assistance (federal disaster assistance to towns, tribal nations, state agencies, certain nonprofits) briefings are being scheduled in each county. Dates and locations will be announced shortly by the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

In addition, it was announced on September 7 that following the Presidential Disaster Declaration for Connecticut and filing and tax payment extensions announced by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) announced additional state extensions that mirror certain federal extensions.

According to DRS Deputy Commissioner Joseph Mooney, the IRS extended certain filing and payment deadlines falling on or after August 27 and on or before October 31. Because certain Connecticut state tax returns are tied directly to federal tax returns impacted by the recently announced extensions, DRS will extend the filing and payment dates for these state tax returns to correspond to the federal extensions.

The dues dates for all applicable estimates, extensions and returns originally due on or after August 27 and on or before October 31, have been extended to October 31. Payments by electronic funds transfer must be initiated no later than 4:30 pm on October 28 to be considered timely.

DRS Deputy Commissioner Mooney encourages taxpayers who have been impacted by Tropical Storm Irene and are unable to comply with their tax obligations to contact DRS for assistance.

For information about various tax matters or to view a list of all taxes affected by the storm-related extensions visit the DRS website at www.ct.gov/DRS.

Customer service callers should dial 800-382-9463 within Connecticut, but outside the Greater Hartford area or 860-297-5962 from anywhere.