NATCHEZ — When city officials realized they missed a FEMA deadline to file for cleanup reimbursement from Hurricane Gustav, they overlooked one critical detail — there never was a deadline.

Earlier this month some Natchez officials said they thought the deadline was March 30 and that it was missed, possibly costing the city up to $200,000 in federal reimbursements.

To brace for the possible loss the city borrowed $500,000 to cover the lost reimbursement and other budget shortfalls.

But Wednesday, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Public Information Officer Kathy Gunby said she believes the missed deadline was a misunderstanding.

MEMA works with FEMA processing the city’s application.

“There is no hard and fast deadline for them to turn in their application,” Gunby said.

Gunby said she believes the error was made when MEMA Public Assistance Specialist Eris King attempted to have the city expedite its application before King’s pending reassignment to another region later this month.

Natchez Mayor Jake Middleton said he is pleased the city will still be eligible for reimbursement.

“It’s great news for us,” he said.

But Natchez Public Works Director Eric Smith, who was blamed for missing the deadline, said he never believed there was a deadline.

“I didn’t know anything about a deadline,” Smith said.

Smith said after reading an article in The Natchez Democrat regarding the missed deadline, he immediately called King.

King confirmed there was no deadline and Smith said he notified the mayor shortly after.

Middleton said he could not remember exactly when he first heard there was a possibility no deadline existed, but said he felt the $500,000 loan was still in the best interest of the city.

“We might need it to pay bills, make payroll or anything. What if we have another storm,” Middleton said. “It’s almost like having a line of credit, it’s there if you need it.”

And Middleton said since the city is still eligible for reimbursement, the money could also be used to simply pay back the loan.

Since city officials believed they were late in filing the paperwork the process was expedited and now Natchez’s reimbursement work is some of the first to have been sent in for approval, Middleton said.