June 3, 2025

By: Taylor Wells

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Hillsborough County is asking residents to provide input on how more than $700 million in federal aid should be spent to help the community recover from four hurricanes in the last two years.

Hillsborough County expects to receive $709,324,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will help with recovery and mitigation efforts related to Hurricane Idalia in 2023 and Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton in 2024.

The aid will target communities and neighborhoods with the greatest unmet long-term recovery needs. At least 70 percent of the money must benefit low-to-moderate-income populations.

The County’s draft plan lays out how the $709 million will be spent to help residents rebuild their homes and recover financially after the storms and how infrastructure like roads and stormwater systems will be built and maintained. To gather public input on the plan, the county has scheduled a series of five public hearings and four educational meetings.

Residents are also encouraged to provide input through an online survey, which will be available at www.hcfl.gov/hcengage. The survey will be open from Wednesday, June 4, to Monday, July 7. All the meetings will be from 6-8 p.m.

Public comment hearings (all meetings from 6-8 p.m.):

• Wednesday, June 4, Pierce Middle School, 5511 N. Hesperides St., Tampa, 33614. (District 1).
• Tuesday, June 10, Emanuel P. Johnson Recreation Center, 5855 S. 78th St., Tampa, FL 33619 (District 3).
• Thursday, June 12, Maureen Gauzza Library, 11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa, FL 33626 (District 2).
• Friday, June 13, Lennard High School, 2342 E. Shell Point Rd., Ruskin, FL 33570 (District 4).
• Wednesday, June 18, Sayde Gibbs Martin Community Center, 302 S. Maryland Ave., Plant City, FL 33563 (District 4).

Education meetings (all meetings from 6-8 p.m.):

• Thursday, June 5, C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Library, 2607 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa, FL 33610 (District 3).
• Monday, June 9, Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Ave., Tampa, FL 33611 (District 1).
• Tuesday, June 17, Roy Haynes Park Recreation Center, 1902 S. Village Ave., Tampa, 33612 (District 2).
• Monday, June 23, Victor Crist Community Center, 14013 N. 22nd St., Tampa, FL 33613 (District 3).

The draft plan proposes a number of programs to address unmet needs in several categories:

• Single and multifamily repair and replacement.
• Multifamily new construction.
• Housing for special needs populations.
• Housing infrastructure.
• Workforce development.
• Business infrastructure.
• Public services.
• Planning.

After input is considered from the surveys and June’s public comment hearings and education meetings, the resulting plan will go to the Board of County Commissioners for approval on Wednesday, July 16, before being sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For more information, visit www.hcfl.gov/disasterrecoverygrant.