JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005. Now, two years and nine months later, state officials said that it will take just as long to dispense the billions of dollars in Katrina aid promised by the federal government.

Rosalie, 76, said she still anguishes over the Long Beach home she lost during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Rosalie did not want her last name used for this story. Rosalie, who now lives in Clinton, said that she is still trying to get hurricane relief money promised to her by the state.

"They made it sound like a slam dunk," Rosalie said. "You apply, you get approved, and you get your money, no problem."

But, it's been a big problem. Rosalie said she was first told she was eligible for a $93,000 grant in May 2007. But nine months later, a question about the signatures on the closing documents to the house she sold created a "red tape delay" with the state.

Then, she was told she was actually only eligible for about $43,000.

But she is still waiting to get a check.

According to the Mississippi Development Authority, Rosalie is one of about 2,000 people still in the application process of the state's homeowner assistance program. So far, 20,200 households have received grant money. That leaves about $300 million to be distributed to homeowners in that arm of the program alone.

"To a certain extent we're breaking new ground, but over the last few months we've hired additional people at MDA and kind of reorganized some of the administration programs," said Lee Youngblood, who is with the disaster recovery division of MDA.

The reorganization comes as the state is still in the process of distributing $5.48 billion in recovery aid from the federal government. Administrative costs will take up $200 million. Approximately $3.5 billion has been assigned or spent so far.

That leaves about $1.7 billion to still be spent on storm recovery, almost three years after Katrina.

"The federal government still has (the money)," Gov. Haley Barbour said. "They don't give it to us where we can put it in the bank and draw interest on it. The government still has it. It's never moving fast enough to suit me. But the fact of the matter is it's moving faster than it's ever moved before."

It is the largest recovery effort in U.S. history but how that money has been spent has raised questions.

Recently there was a congressional hearing on Katrina spending and Mississippi’s decision to move $600 million from the state's homeowner assistance program to a port renovation project in Gulfport.

Under the community development block grant monies:

•$41 million was recently spent on things like Pelahatchie's City Hall improvements. The price tag for that project was $344, 500.

•Fire station and airport work in Vicksburg: $1.3 million.

•A downtown revitalization effort in Magnolia: $643,000.

•In Ridgeland, on the west side of town, a new system for the Livingston Road Water Association that was a problem before Hurricane Katrina. Yet, Ridgeland was able to secure $2.65 million in Katrina relief money to replace it.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee certainly doesn't apologize for it.

"No sir, I'll get every grant I can and low interest loans everyday I can," McGee said.

Ridgeland, like the others listed, are eligible for this money because their towns were in the Hurricane's path and were impacted, in some way, by the storm.

"The timing was very good for us," McGee said. "We were looking at a lot of upgrades out there and when this opportunity came along to apply for the grant, it just fell into place the way it needed to."

Barbour said the money may be moving slowly because of federal government requirements that make it difficult to hand out. But the governor said the money is not being wasted.

"HUD did an audit on our homeowner's grant program and I don't know how many hundreds of cases they audited," Barbour said. "We've spent $1.5 billion on that already and distributed $1.5 billion. The $16,000 that they took issue with, we think we've proven that was eligible and proper."

But Rosalie is still waiting for the state grant she was promised.

"That leaves me without any money, without anything," Rosalie said.

She's hoping the red tape will get cleared up and she'll get the money she was promised.

Noticeably missing from the list of Katrina-impacted cities that received Katrina grants is Jackson. According to MDA, Jackson did not even apply for the $41 million in grants that were handed out.

16 WAPT News sources said that the state was prepared to award the city $2 million, if it just would have filled out the applications.

We contacted the city's chief administrative officer, Robert Walker. He declined to comment and referred 16 WAPT News to the city's economic development consultant, Jimmy Heidel. Heidel admitted that the city missed the grant deadline, but said the city is pursuing other community development block grant monies related to Hurricane Katrina relief.