ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – Joe and Deborah Fabrizio always wanted to live on the water.
Their dream came true six years ago when they bought a waterfront home in St. Petersburg.
But their magnificent views come at a price, because as any true Floridian knows, a hurricane can change your life in a matter of hours.
So in November, Fabrizio had his home inspected through the My Safe Florida Home program.
“An inspector came to inspect the house,” he said. “We’ve gone through the whole process and determined what we can apply for under the Safe Home program,” he said. “But by the time I finished the inspection paperwork, they were out of money. There was nothing more to do. »
The program lacked funding. Since then, Floridians like Fabrizio have been at a standstill.
Lucky for them, the governor. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Wednesday that allocates $200 million to get the program back up and running.
“The program is oversubscribed,” Gov. DeSantis told Pinellas County reporters. “There’s a lot of demand.”
“There are a lot of people on the waiting list,” he continued. “So this $200 million will be used to eliminate people on the waiting list and meet any additional demand.”
DeSantis says the program will help lower insurance rates.
We took this to HH Insurance President Jake Holehouse to see if this is what he’s seeing in the Tampa Bay area.
“For many homeowners, this can reduce the hurricane portion of their premium in some cases by as much as 88 percent, but on average we see 50 to 70 percent,” he said. “In a coastal county like Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota and any of our Tampa Bay counties, the hurricane portion of the premium is typically about 2/3 to 3/4 of the overall premium rate. »
“So when you’re talking about cutting 2/3 of that amount by over 50%, that can have a huge impact on a Tampa Bay policyholder,” he continued.
But will $200 million be enough to meet demand?
“I wish they would have done more,” Holehouse said. “When you think about a state the size of Florida, $200 million doesn’t go very far because there are so many homes impacted by the coast that it makes a huge difference.”
Rick Studley, owner of All Phase Roofing Services, said he has seen the impact of the decision firsthand.
“I see a lot of damage,” he said. “I have worked in the construction industry since 1987.”
“I saw Hurricane Andrew, I saw Hurricane Ian, there are a lot of storms that traumatize certain places,” he continued. “It just becomes a disaster area.”
That’s what attracted Studley to be a part of the program.
“When they came up with the program, I thought it would be a great way for us to help our community prepare for storm seasons and protect one of their most valuable assets they own, their house,” he said.
Studley said he has seen the money make a difference.
“As we all know, the materials used in the construction industry continue to increase and we do not expect this to ever go down,” he explained. “So it had a big impact on all of our clients who got a grant. »
“There are two grants, so for low income, the state of Florida pays us directly,” Studley continued. “That’s $10,000 that homeowners have to pay out of pocket.”
“It’s a lot of money, especially for people who just don’t have the money for it and need it,” he said. “The other is the matching grant, where the owner pays the full amount and then the state reimburses them up to $15,000, which is also great.”
“It’s money they have to pay, but the state reimburses them,” he added. “Once they pay them back, that’s $15,000 that you don’t have to spend.”
With the new legislation signed into law Wednesday, there will be changes to the program.
You can read the new law in full below.
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