(AP) The state Department of Finance says it is transferring another $45 million from its rainy day fund to pay for cleanup and debris removal from two major Northern California wildfires.
Director of Finance Michael Cohen says in a letter to lawmakers Friday that cleanup costs could exceed $100 million from fires this fall in the areas of Calaveras County and Lake County. The state already transferred $10 million in reserve spending for cleanup in September.
Both fire sites were declared a federal disaster, so state finance officials expect a large portion of the cleanup costs could be reimbursed by the federal government.
Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer says the cleanup costs are in addition to $369 million the state has spent so far this year to fight wildfires.
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