Hillsborough races to plan $709M in hurricane relief spending
Hillsborough County leaders are racing against the clock to create a plan by July 20 for spending millions in federal disaster relief funding.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development will allocate more than $709.32 million of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds to Hillsborough County for hurricane relief. HUD is also allocating $813.8 million to Pinellas County and $585.7 million to Pasco County.
The funds must be allocated to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, economic revitalization and mitigation in the 'most impacted and distressed' areas, according to the county.
Hillsborough hired Indelible Solutions to draft the Action Plan and requested an extension in March. The extension pushed the HUD grant deadline back to July 20.
A draft plan is expected to be presented on June 4, when a 30-day public comment period will begin. Once the action plan is approved, the $709 million can begin being allocated. The county will then have six years to spend the funds.
Though Hillsborough is ultimately responsible for the federal funding, it can choose to distribute portions of the pot to the municipalities within the county for approved projects.
Commissioner Christine Miller asked staff for details on how they are identifying which areas have the most need to ensure that areas outside of Tampa, like Plant City, are not forgotten.
Three areas identified as top categories for the funds are housing, economic revitalization and infrastructure. Some of the types of infrastructure projects that could be selected include road and bridge repair, water and wastewater facilities, stormwater, public facilities and the elevating and hardening of facilities.
Of the $700 million, 70% must be used to benefit low to moderate-income individuals or areas.
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