Two years after back-to-back hurricanes battered the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas County has a large pool of federal recovery money and a long line of residents still waiting on it.
The county has received more than $813 million in disaster recovery funds through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Its Pinellas Recovers program has approved $110 million so far, and $24 million has been paid out, roughly 3 percent of the total. Another $86 million is committed but hasn’t reached recipients.
For Madeira Beach homeowner Bill Nelson, the wait is costing him. Hurricane Helene flooded his home in September 2024, and repairs cost $151,000. Insurance covered part of the bill, but he says he still owes $88,000, which he can’t afford. He has worked with the program for months, and his contractor is now threatening a lien. Without help, he said, he may have to sell the house he has owned for 27 years.
County officials say federal rules set the pace. Anastasia Sarioglou, the county’s disaster recovery compliance manager, said the money is reimbursed. The county spends first, then submits receipts to HUD. She named permitting requirements and environmental reviews as the biggest bottlenecks. The county is handling nearly 3,500 active cases, and it has ruled more than 2,700 applications ineligible. Common reasons include properties that aren’t primary residences, income above program limits, and homes outside Pinellas County.
The county’s Inspector General recently finished its first audit of the program. Auditors reviewed 57 awarded cases worth $4.3 million and found no problems in that sample, according to Assistant Inspector General Darcy Eckert. HUD plans more audits and also monitors spending.
Other Tampa Bay counties face similar hurdles. Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota received direct federal allocations and run their own programs. Citrus County’s money flows through the Florida Department of Commerce, which Housing Services Director Michelle Alford said can make help harder to secure.
Pinellas has six years to distribute its allocation and is about one year in. For homeowners like Nelson, the open question is whether a process built around federal paperwork can deliver help before the bills do.
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