More Tampa Hurricane Assistance - City Councilman Luis Viera

The city of Tampa is taking applications for a second round of hurricane assistance to homeowners. The Homeowner Hurricane Assistance program is for city homeowners who didn't qualify for a previous round of help with repair costs earlier this year. We speak with Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera about the program, which takes applications starting November 17th. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here beyond the News. The City of Tampa
is making more financial aid available to homeowners affected by
hurricanes Helene and Milton last year. We have Tampa City
Council and Luis Vieira with us to talk about the
homeowner hurricane Assistance program. Counselman Vieira, welcome to Beyond the News.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yes, sir, it's my real pleasure to be here today
and thank y'all for having me now.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
People may have heard about an earlier program, the Homeowner's
Disaster Assistance Program earlier this year, and as I understand,
this isn't something that's being offered for people who couldn't
qualify under the previous program because of income thresholds, which
I assume has something to do with the federal requirements.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yes, sir, so the initial program came from Florida, State
of Florida dollars that had very strict income guidelines. We
pushed for additional funds in Tampa City Council to make
sure that we could have addition funds for people who
were working class, in middle class who couldn't otherwise qualify.

(01:05):
Because government has got to fight for the middle class
and for the working class.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
So how much money is available to homeowners under this
program and who is qualified to receive it?

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yes, sir, so to receive it, first off, you have
to be a City of Camper resident who suffered a
qualifying loss under either Hurricane Milton or Helene. And you
have to earn up to one hundred and forty percent
of the area needed income with a ten percent flexibility waiver.
That would be a cap of approximately one hundred and

(01:39):
sixty thousand dollars for a family of four. So that
is much more inclusive than the prior program that we
had in terms of income thresholds.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
And as you mentioned, people who would be considered middle
class and a lot of people who have had challenges
after the hurricanes. What types of repairs can this money
be used for? And do you need to make the
repair first and get reimbursement or could you apply for
the money first.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, So, homeowners are eligible to receive reimbursement for related
repairs or funding up front to make recovery repairs. This
includes work for dry wall and flooring, for cabinet and
in teriror restoration, for tree removal, or for roof replacement
or repair, or for someone's air conditioned system. So there

(02:32):
is a wide variety of activities and repairs that are
covered under this, and the cap is up to thirty
thousand dollars. And of course those homeowners who receive funding
under the prior program would be precluded from qualifying for
this additional funds.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
So this is for people who were not eligible the
previous time around and not for people who were eligible
the first time around.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes, sir, so, that's who it is aimed towards. In theory,
if somebody was eligible for the first round but didn't apply,
I believe they can still apply. That this is geared
towards people who were ineligible for the first round because
they made too much money that are still working class
or middle class. Again, a lot of times people believe
that government doesn't fight for the working class or the

(03:21):
middle class, and often they're right by the way, and
we're trying to prove them wrong.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
When do you start taking applications and what are the
time windows for.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
This, Yes, sir, so, starting in November seventeenth, applications are accepted.
They will be accepted Monday through Wednesday from nine am
to three pm, and the cutoff is December twelfth, So
folks can either apply online or by calling to House
and Information hotline at the aforementioned times, and that's at

(03:52):
eight one three three oh seven five five five five.
That's eight one three three oh seven five five five five.
So there are timelines by which you have to get
it in. It's not obviously open ended.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Where should people You mentioned that people could apply online.
Where should they go to apply online or to find
out more information about the program.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yes, sir, so the website is Tampa dot gov backslash hha,
that's Harry Harry Alpha. In terms of the website, you
can go there for the applications. Again, applications will not
be accepted until Monday, November seventeenth, and starting then you
can apply online or you can call the hotline.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
And that application window goes through December twelfth. Tampa City
Council and Louis Tampa City Councilor and Luis Vieira, thank
you very much for joining us on Beyond the News.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yes, sir, my pleasure. Thank you guys so much