Tampa Bay leaders say the federal Hurricane Relief Fund is on balance after the New York Times reported Thursday that the Trump administration is planning a layoff to an office that oversees recovery from the US’s biggest disaster. Masu.
According to documents obtained, the administration, also known as HUD, which is part of the Housing and Urban Development Authority, also known as HUD, proposed to propose a 84% reduction in office workforce. New York Times.
Tampa Bay cities and counties are expected to receive $2.2 billion in relief funds to repair affordable housing and public infrastructure that were hit hardest last year by hurricanes Helen and Milton, and damaged by the storm.
Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds can be used for a wide range of recovery and mitigation projects, but according to the department’s website, “it aims to support communities and neighbourhoods that are not recovering due to limited resources.” Masu.
The grant is the only federal disaster recovery assistance that benefits primarily low- and middle-income households.
The funding “supports disaster relief, long-term recovery, infrastructure and housing recovery, economic revitalization and mitigation in the most affected, most affected and suffered regions,” said the company. According to a news release obtained through Wayback, the company announced its funding for Florida on the month, according to a news release.
“Disaster recovery efforts are top priority and will not be affected,” said Casey Lovett, a spokesman for the federal agency, in a statement in the New York Times. “HUD’s mission to serve all communities, especially the tragedy, remains unchanged.”
Pinellas County Commission Chairman Kathleen Peters said he feared that more than $800 million allocated to the county could be at risk if the office workforce was dramatically reduced. I stated.
“It’s a very quick timeline we have to meet, and then we’re worried if there’s enough staffing to approve it — to do that, we’re still I guarantee you get the money,” she said.
Peters said Pinellas plans to use federal funds to replace signals damaged by consecutive storms and provide important upgrades to their sewage and stormwater systems.
The funds could also be provided as loans and grants to business owners struggling to recover from hurricanes.
“We really want to put these resources into the hands of the citizens,” Peters said. “We just want to be able to do that quickly, and we hope that with those cuts it won’t be affected somehow, but I’m sure it will happen. Masu.”
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Peters said the massive layoffs could threaten the county’s progress towards building more affordable housing.
In Hillsboro County, it is unclear what the cuts mean for programs that rely on these federal funds.
In 2023, the Federal Housing Agency funds accounted for at least 72% of the Tampa Housing Administration’s budget. The Public Housing Agency, which provides housing assistance to more than 15,000 families in the area, spread out $143 million in housing assistance payments from these federal funds last year.
Housing agencies that do not provide emergency housing related to disasters rely on federal funds separate from disaster subsidies distributed by offices threatened by layoffs. However, some tenants who rely on the service were expelled by the hurricane last year.
Approximately 12 affordable housing units managed by housing authorities were damaged by Helen and Milton, said Rose Lugo, a spokesman for the agency.
Housing authorities relied on funding from federal housing agencies and other sources to rebuild those homes, Lugo said.
“Our hope now is that this administration’s plan will help us maintain the level of service to the families we serve here in the Tampa area,” she said.
A Hillsboro County spokesperson was working Thursday to see if the county received any of the $700 million it received from federal agencies for disaster relief.
Peters said he doesn’t know what the proposed federal layoffs mean future disaster funding in the area.
Trump’s recent moves remind us of a shakeup led by former Florida governor Rick Scott during his tenure, she said. In 2011, Scott dissolved a growth management agency that oversees local plans statewide.
“A lot of what the president does at the national level (Scott) has done at the state level. There was a lot of fear and in the end everything went well,” Peters said. “I’m optimistic and I think if they rebuild, it will work. It’s just a new way to do things.”
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Here is the scope of what the state and some local governments plan to receive from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Florida: $925,394,000
Hillsboro County: $709,324,000
Pasco County: $585,704,000
Pinellas County: $813,783,000
St. Petersburg: $159,884,000
Manatee County: $252,711,000
Sarasota County: $210,094,000
Orange County: $33,357,000
Lee County: $100,683,000
Volusia County: $133,515,000
Broward County: $29,222,000
Fort Lauderdale: $88,051,000
Times staff writer Michaela Mulligan contributed to this report.
