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Many Low-Income Floridians Can't Afford Hurricane Grants

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2008

TAMPA - For low-income residents in Hillsborough County, the cost to participate in the My Safe Florida Home grant program often can exceed their meager means.

Faced with paying upfront for improvements, as much as $5,000, then waiting for a state reimbursement, low-income residents are finding the program is out of their financial reach.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

The program, unveiled in mid-2006, aimed to provide residents statewide with a free inspection to gauge their homes' ability to withstand storms. It added the allure of state money as a way to cover the cost of buying shutters, replacing garage doors or securing roofs.

In particular, since last year, the Legislature and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and her staff at the Department of Financial Services, which oversees the program, have tried to reach an impoverished population — households of one to four people living 80 percent or more below the median income.

"We were hearing anecdotal stories of people living in million-dollar houses getting grants," Sink said in an interview in December with The Tampa Tribune. "I don't know if I want my hard-earned tax dollars going to support a millionaire. They ought to buy their own shutters."

In reality, the bulk of the money is going not necessarily to millionaires, but to people who live at or above the median income of $54,000, according to a Tribune analysis.

A review of statewide grants shows that about half of them are going to residents whose homes are insured for $190,000 or more. The median home price in Hillsborough County, as of November, was $189,100.

"They said they would help with half of it, but you have to pay upfront," Mohan Shankar, 67, of Tampa said two months after being notified that he qualified for assistance as a low-income homeowner. He and his wife live on his monthly Social Security check and rely on food stamps for groceries. "I had to turn them down. If I have to pay for it first, where can I find the money?"

Program officials recognize the problem: "We've heard from them, 'We're struggling to make payments up front,' " said Tami Torres, Sink's special programs administrator.

In February, Torres said, program administrators plan to request proposals from contractors statewide about creating a plan that does not require low-income homeowners to pay anything.

The state would reimburse the contractors directly for their work, she said.

There's no guarantee, however, that such a deal can be struck.

Such problems highlight the struggle to involve low-income residents, both at the state and local levels.

Programs are available to eliminate upfront costs to low-income residents — though not in Hillsborough County and much of the state.

The state is partnering with the Volunteer Florida Foundation to recruit nonprofit agencies to work with low-income residents. And My Safe Florida Home officials are offering money to local governments to help fortify low-income homes.

Neither requires out-of-pocket expense for residents.

To date, no nonprofit agencies and no local government offices in Hillsborough have agreed to participate.

"That's one of the main reasons we're looking at a competitive bid with contractors statewide," Torres said, to "provide another service that speaks directly to low-income residents who want to get involved but aren't sure how to."

A Rocky Start

My Safe Florida Home debuted to overwhelming interest in 2006 after two years of substantial and destructive hurricane activity. The interest soon became criticism.

Program officials readily admit they were understaffed and ill-prepared. They anticipated inspecting 12,000 homes during the pilot phase but received more than 70,000 requests.

Some homeowners experienced long waits as a result. Others grew frustrated when trying to contact the program because, officials said, the Legislature failed to allocate money to hire additional staff, primarily workers to answer the program's toll-free help line.

The criticism continued in 2007. The state acknowledged discrepancies and errors in the free inspection reports issued to homeowners and the lack of adequate training provided to inspectors, which included a daylong class and an open-book test.

An early success touted by the program — an average of $200 or more savings on insurance premiums — was based on anecdotal stories and not documented examples, Sink told the Tribune in December.

In that interview, Sink praised the help being given to low-income residents through grants and other financial assistance.

My Safe Florida Home offers three options for low-income applicants, who must decide how to proceed based on where they live and what they can afford.

They can apply through the state for a grant up to $5,000, but they must pay for the improvements and wait for reimbursement. Applicants also must pay the difference if the work exceeds the grant amount.

Or they can apply through a Volunteer Florida Foundation-approved nonprofit agency or a participating local government office to receive up to $5,000 in home improvements. These two options do not require out-of-pocket expense. However, their availability is limited — nearly the entire Panhandle and a wide swath of Central Florida are excluded.

To date, 48 counties, including Hillsborough, do not have a nonprofit agency participating in the program. And only 17 municipalities and counties have agreed to work with the state, none of them in Hillsborough.

Few Low-Income Recipients

Program officials said last week that low-income residents account for nearly 38 percent of the total grants and financial assistance awarded.

Here's how those numbers break down:

Only 2,753 of 18,102 state grants awarded, or about 15 percent, have gone to low-income applicants.

The remaining 6,979 homeowners signed up through the Volunteer Florida Foundation and local governments.

Low-income participation in Hillsborough County, in particular, appears to have been hampered by the lack of either a local government agency or a Volunteer Florida-approved nonprofit group.

A spreadsheet of grants issued statewide as of Jan. 14 shows 654 being awarded to Hillsborough homeowners. Of those, only 14 are low-income applicants. Most list "null" in the space provided for the insured value of their homes. Torres said qualified low-income applicants can choose not to list that.

Pinellas County has 105 approved grant recipients who list "null."

The Tribune contacted several of those homeowners in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties after finding that seven people who qualified as low-income live in homes valued between $300,000 and $700,000.

Torres said applicants are required to verify, under penalty of perjury, that they meet the low-income threshold for their respective counties. If they meet the criteria, "we would not legally be able to deny that grant."

Erich Hortz, 71, qualified for a grant to replace the garage door and buy storm shutters for his waterfront Clearwater Beach home, which is valued at $679,400, according to the Pinellas County Property Appraiser.

Hortz, who is retired and receives Social Security benefits, inherited the house from relatives in the 1980s. He said he makes less than $30,000 a year, which qualified him for the grant. But he also said he received a $300,000 interest-only mortgage loan against the value of his property, which he hopes to live on for 10 years.

"They didn't say you had to be completely poor," he said, adding that he pays $9,000 a year in taxes and insurance, plus lawn maintenance and upkeep on his house and boat dock.

Hortz replaced his garage door but is waiting on the shutters. He has yet to receive reimbursement from the state. He said that if he doesn't, he's not concerned.

"They either give it to me or they don't," he said. "It's storm surge I'm mostly concerned about, and nothing is going to stop storm surge."

Trying To Find The Money

Hortz was among a random sampling of 15 low-income grant recipients in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties whom the Tribune talked to about the program.

Five of those said they either couldn't afford the upfront cost to make improvements or were struggling to find a way.

For Janette Stokley Naylor, 54, of St. Petersburg, that means possibly using a credit card to buy storm shutters and hoping for a swift reimbursement. She was approved for a grant directly with the state.

The average wait for a reimbursement is 57 days, program officials said.

Naylor lives on Social Security disability and makes less than $13,000 a year, she said. But her house is paid off, and she has good credit, she said.

"It does make it difficult that I have to put up the money upfront," she said, "and they made me jump through a lot of hoops."

Merrily Conrad, 65, of Apollo Beach, also was approved for a grant through the state. She said she can't take advantage of it, however. She's retired, living on disability and raising a grandson whom she adopted.

"I haven't bothered with it because I just don't have the money," she said. "How many [people] have $5,000 to put upfront and wait on the money?"

Conrad said she called the My Safe Florida Home help line and was surprised at what she was told by a state employee: "He said, 'Well, you could go to the bank and get a loan.' "

Torres said help line staff should not be making such suggestions. "That's something I would want to look into," she said.

Local Governments Respond

My Safe Florida Home officials say they have worked hard to bring local governments onboard to assist low-income residents by eliminating upfront expenses.

Torres said the program has twice notified local governments that money was available. There are 17 municipalities and counties receiving $11.7 million, 10 of those in the southern portion of the state.

But Tampa officials describe the application process as confusing and marked by questions that never got answered.

"I think it was because it was a new program, and they were probably overwhelmed," said Sharon West, manager of Tampa's Housing and Community Development division.

West and her staff considered applying in late 2006. Questions about matching funds and eligibility criteria kept them from doing so, she said.

"They told us, 'Wait, wait, wait, we're going to change it.' Then they closed it and funded the people who had already submitted an application," West said. "There was a lot of confusion."

Fred Meyer, chief underwriting supervisor for West's division, said staff participated in a conference call and a local workshop on how the program would work.

"They knew we were interested," he said.

In February, they said, the state sent out an e-mail saying no more applications would be accepted.

"If they open it again," West said, "we certainly would be interested and would apply."

Nonprofits Agencies' Involvement

Volunteer Florida Foundation officials also said efforts have been made to involve Hillsborough County nonprofit groups.

"Obviously, it wasn't as effective as it could be," foundation spokeswoman Fonda Anderson said.

The nonprofit agency, based in Tallahassee, has approved nonprofit agencies in 19 counties, including two agencies in Pinellas County, to assist low-income homeowners.

The agencies receive money from the foundation to reimburse contractors assigned to make repairs.

Agencies interested in participating go through a competitive application process, Anderson said.

"I can understand why a nonprofit would want to proceed very carefully," Anderson said, "and make sure they can do a good job."

Foundation President Kay Kammel said she didn't know why no Hillsborough agencies have expressed interest in applying.

"We certainly reached out to nonprofits in the area," Kammel said. "Some nonprofits don't want to take state dollars."

The Tribune contacted two nonprofit agencies that Kammel said were approached but declined to sign up: Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County and Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay.

Officials from both agencies told the newspaper they are comfortable working with state money, they are interested in the program and they would like to know more.

The foundation will issue a new request for proposals Feb. 15 to accept applications from interested nonprofit agencies.

"If those two organizations want to be involved," Torres said, "we would certainly encourage Volunteer Florida to reach out to them and do what they can to get them involved."

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com.

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