WASHINGTON, DC – Pasco County will receive $585,704,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program stemming from Hurricanes Idalia, Helene and Milton.
These federal dollars were passed as part of the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025, which was enacted on Dec. 21, 2024.
U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis advocated for the inclusion of $12 billion in CDBG-Disaster Recovery funds because he has seen how devastated his district has been from these back-to-back natural disasters.
“The tremendous need in our community as we seek to recover and prevent future loss is undeniable,” Bilirakis said.
Additionally, on December 24, 2024, Bilirakis requested that HUD issue a direct allocation to Pasco County. In his appeal, Bilirakis outlined how Pasco intends to use the federal funding to serve its low and moderate income residents, to include:
- Implementation of strategies for affordable replacement housing and repairs to damaged homes;
- Stormwater improvements and critical infrastructure projects to improve resiliency; and
- Economic development plans for impacted small businesses that employ a majority of low-to moderate-income residents
“This amount of funding – over a half billion dollars – is extraordinary,” said Kathryn Starkey, chair of the Pasco Board of County Commissioners. “Thousands of low-income Pasco County residents affected by recent hurricanes could benefit from this assistance, and it will also help us repair storm-damaged infrastructure and improve our community’s resiliency. We can’t thank our federal delegation members enough for helping us secure this historic funding for Pasco.”
