Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to clear the backlog of the “My Safe Florida Home” program and is seeking enough funds from the Florida Legislature to eliminate the waiting list.
The program offers Floridian matching grants up to $10,000 to homeowners who reinforce their homes with storm-protected upgrades like hurricane safe doors and windows.
First-time applicants must complete their initial wind mitigation test to proceed with their grant application. The inspection will show the homeowner:
The opportunity to share that report with insurance companies is to receive all possible discounts on the hurricane portion of the home’s insurance premium on the roadmap for remodeling homes with improvements to strengthen against hurricanes An opportunity to confirm
To qualify for the inspection, homeowners must meet the following requirements:
The house must be a detached house or townhouse. The house must be built on the site and occupied by the owner. Homeowners must have a Homestead exemption in their homes.
As an additional bonus, those who complete the task of upgrading their homes with new windows and doors will be eligible for a tax credit for energy-efficient upgrades, whether they have joined my safe Florida or not. It may be.
Governor Desantis wants to add about $600 million to the program as he proposed a $115.6 billion budget in fiscal 2025.
Last year, the state allocated $200 million, but it was exhausted in just a few days. Additionally, more than 3,000 homeowners were able to carry out the registration process last summer before closing their application portal again a few days after the program reopened.
Desantis says more than 50,000 Floridians have submitted applications and are waiting to pass the next step.
The Florida Legislature will vote for the budget during the legislative meeting that begins on March 4th.
