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State checks totaling more than $2.3 million were deposited Wednesday with Sauk County authorities to pay for property that either no longer exits or, if it does, is in the Wisconsin River.

The money from the state Department of Transportation will be paid to owners of nine condemned, flood-damaged parcels along Lake Delton and Highway A.

The payments required a rare tapping of a state law for emergency condemnation, a process expedited by the governor's office to speed up highway rebuilding and payments to flood-affected property owners, said DOT officials. The recipients include owners of homes swept away when Lake Delton erupted through Highway A on June 9.

In all, said Becky Krugman, the DOT's real estate acquisitions manager, "we have 17 parcels that fall within the footprint of our construction project.

"Those are all we have the authority to deal with," she said.

Of the 17 parcels, 10 are total acquisitions, she said, and nine of those are the ones being dealt with first. Those remaining in most cases involve small strips of property needed for the highway rebuilding project, she said.

The emergency condemnation law allows the DOT, with the approval of the governor, to "determine a reasonable price to pay for the acquisition of property needed for highways," said Krugman.

"We determined that what is the fairest and most equitable way to handle this would be to use equalized assessed values of 2007," she said.

She said in her 10 years at the DOT, the law has not been used.

"We are limited — it has to be associated with a highway project," she said.

The money goes to the parties via the county court system, which then must make sure the entities on the various petitions — including owners, mortgage holders and partners — are satisfied with the sum.

Krugman acknowledged the state is buying property that in some instances no longer exists or is only partially present.

"We had to determine what we felt were reasonable prices, and we determined this was fairest and that was pretty important. The unfortunate part of this is that so many people have been affected by the floods, and that is out of our realm. We know the government is looking at as many resources as possible to aid flood victims. This just happens to have a highway condition with it, and that's where we step in."

Vicki Meister, the Sauk County clerk of courts, said the six checks from the state totalled $2,348,283 and go to owners of nine parcels.

The money does not cover the value of the homes' contents. The Fromms, for example, said in June that the full value of their lost home could be estimated at $1 million.

The money is not from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, officials confirmed. It may come from a combination of federal and state transportation funds, some of it emergency funds, said Krugman. FEMA flood assistance for home buyouts are generally capped at about $27,000, and also generally, focus on primary homes.

That program remains in progress, said state and federal emergency officials.

Meister said the recipients of the money have up to two years to accept the amounts awarded or appeal.

Highway A has been closed and traffic has been detoured since a breach caused by heavy rainfall in early June created a new channel from Lake Delton to the Wisconsin River approximately 700 feet long by 370 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The breach drained the 267-acre lake of more than 600 million gallons of water and damaged or destroyed at least four homes, and washed out Highway A.

The state took over jurisdiction of Highway A from Sauk County, ensuring quick redesign and construction, according to previous statements by DOT officials.

The timeline for the reconstruction project includes a letting of bids in late August, starting construction in early September, opening Highway A in December, and refilling Lake Delton by spring 2009.