BY TYLER BRIDGES

 Miami-Dade County and Miami police are seeking federal reimbursement for a tab
 of more than $4 million spent on law enforcement and street cleanup during the
 Elian Gonzalez case, local officials said Tuesday.

 The county and city want the state to declare an ``emergency'' that would allow
 them to collect the money from the Federal Emergency Management
 Administration. But the state agency that must approve the reimbursement
 request to FEMA said late Tuesday that the county and city police are not
 eligible, said David Bishop, a spokesman for the state Department of Community
 Affairs.

 Bishop said, however, that both governments could apply directly to the U.S.
 Department of Justice for reimbursement.

 He said that the city of St. Petersburg got a Justice Department grant to
 reimburse its costs from civil disturbances in 1996.

 ``We cannot find any precedent to honor [their] request,'' Bishop said. ``They can
 apply directly to DOJ.''

 The county was seeking reimbursement for its ``protective measures'' and for
 ``debris removal,'' said Rhonda Barnett, a county spokeswoman.

 Starting with the first disturbances in January, the county spent $2.57 million on
 police alone, plus $20,000 processing people who were arrested, $10,000 on
 public works, $7,500 for its emergency operations staff and $1,200 for fire-rescue,
 Barnett said.

 This was the first time the county was able to provide a breakdown of its costs.

 New Miami Police Chief Raul Martinez said the extra personnel for the tug of war
 over Elian has cost his department $1.5 million.

 According to a breakdown provided by Angel Calzadilla, senior executive
 assistant to Martinez, the police department spent $1.27 million on overtime,
 $278,590 on officers assigned to Elian duty away from their normal duties,
 $27,260 on food and ice for street officers and $15,780 for towing charges.

 The $1.2 million for overtime comes from the $6.7 million the police department
 budgeted this year for all overtime costs.

 Of other government agencies:

 The Miami Fire Department spent $38,000 to $58,000 on overtime, said new City
 Manager Carlos Gimenez, the former fire chief.

 The Florida Department of Law Enforcement spent $50,000 in overtime costs and
 staff who would have been assigned to other duties, spokesman Al Dennis said.

 The Florida Highway Patrol spent $80,000 before the April 22 raid, $158,000 on
 overtime from April 22-26 and another $17,000 on overtime on April 29, the day of
 a massive protest march, FHP spokesman David Tripp said.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald