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City, county and state funding options outlined for Hurricane Milton relief; $3M in SHIP funds, $213K disaster SHIP and federal allocation pending
Summary
Staff described planned use of SHIP program income and coordination with Hillsborough County to distribute recently announced federal disaster funds; council asked staff to return with agreements and processes for third-party distribution.
City staff told the Tampa City Council on Jan. 9 that the administration is assembling a layered set of disaster-relief resources to help residents affected by recent flooding tied to Hurricane Milton.
Nut graf: Staff said $3 million in program income from the state SHIP program is available for housing recovery work and that an additional $213,000 in SHIP disaster funds had been notified. Staff also said the federal government announced $12 billion in disaster funds nationwide with $700 million being allocated to Hillsborough County; the county allocation will be distributed across municipalities and the county and staff are discussing use of a third-party administrator to run a coordinated relief program.
Body: Abby Feeley, administrator for development and economic opportunity, told council that $3,000,000 in SHIP program income is targeted for storm recovery and that those funds carry the usual SHIP income tiers (30% for up to 50% AMI, 30% up to 80% AMI, and the remainder up to 140% AMI). Feeley said the state's SHIP disaster allocation of about $213,000 has been announced and will come to the city through the usual grant acceptance process.
Feeley said late on Tuesday the federal government announced $12 billion in disaster dollars nationally, and staff understood Hillsborough County's allocation to be $700 million; the county and city are discussing a coordinated approach. Feeley said the city is talking with a third-party contractor (ICF) to serve as a clearinghouse and assist with eligibility screening and distribution; any agreement with a third-party administrator would come back to council for approval.
Brenda McKenzie, director of workforce partnerships, separately presented an update on a returning-citizens employment program (see separate article). John Bennett, chief of staff, said the administration was coordinating with county partners to avoid duplication and to scale systems already used for ARPA distributions.
Councilmembers asked how quickly relief could be available and whether the city could open intake sooner. Feeley said staff hoped to have an agreement on the third-party administrator ready for the Jan. 23 council meeting and operational intake in early February, subject to execution of contracts and procurement rules.
Quotes: "We have $3,000,000 in SHIP program income that we are targeting to use for this," Abby Feeley said.
"Any agreement for those funds to be distributed by a third party ... will come before council for approval," Feeley said.
Ending: Council asked staff to return quickly with the contract language, intake timeline and public-facing access points; staff said the city will coordinate with Hillsborough County to reduce duplication and speed assistance.
