SPRING GREEN — It will be months before residents of a flood-moldy town subdivision in Spring Green will know if their homes will be acquired and razed as a public service.

In the meantime, only the owners of the lesser damaged homes have returned. Some have blasted their basement walls with the latest spore-destroying abrasives, while others are checking the real estate ads. The town will have to borrow $600,000 to cover its share of a buyout, a prospect buffered by an advisory referendum set for November.

The Prairie subdivision in the town of Spring Green was overwhelmed by floodwaters last June that took months to leave. The town has applied to emergency government officials to have 27 homes bought and destroyed, an application process that will not be completed for months, perhaps not until next spring, officials estimate.

Not all of the homes — there are 31 in the subdivision — qualify for a buyout.

Not on the list is Kerry Jelle's house on Garden Path.

"We were not damaged enough to be considered, but it's not like we had a choice," said Jelle, who reckons his 6-year-old home once assessed at more than $150,000 is now unsalable. Floodwaters destroyed the basement, and though the house was insured, his claim was denied. Even if he had had flood insurance, his adjuster told him, it would not have covered the damage because it was deemed to be "seepage."

"What are we left with in 2010? Bulldozed, abandoned homes, a ghost neighborhood," he said.

Neighbor Jamie Licht, who removed more than three feet of sewage from his home, which also is not on the buyout list, noted that those who remain could face the same flooding next year.

Roxanne Gray, the state's hazard mitigation officer, said the town's application requires an extensive environmental review.

"We also have to do a benefit-cost analysis of every one of the properties," she said. The benefit of buying and demolishing the homes has to exceed the cost of leaving them there, she said. The formula includes the potential of flooding again, and the damages this time and previously.

Statewide, seven municipalities have submitted applications for buyouts because of flooding, and many more are expected before the Nov. 3 deadline, Gray said.

"We know we are going to have a shortfall of money for this mitigation projection," she said, in which primary residences are the top priority.

In the program, the municipality pays 12.5 percent, the state pays 12.5 percent and FEMA pays 75 percent of the cost. The rough estimate of the Spring Green cost is $4.6 million, she said. So far, the seven municipalities have requested about $25 million, a sum that includes the cost-sharing, Gray said.

One property in the town of Spring Green that is not on the buyout list is the Prairie House Motel, a business that was flooded and has not reopened because of extensive damage. It was offered, but did not make the buyout list because it is a commercial property, town officials said.

"It is the lowest of the priorities for the buyout," said Jerry Schmidt, emergency director in the town of 1,750. He said town officials sought other ways to help the motel owners but came up empty.