Broward County adopts revised HUD disaster‑recovery plan, shifts more funds to infrastructure and home repair

Broward County commissioners voted May 26 to approve a revised action plan for HUD disaster‑recovery funds that increases infrastructure spending and keeps a set aside for home repair and housing projects.

County staff told the board that the package the county initially submitted to HUD (plan A) already had HUD approval but left limited flexibility. Lenny (county staff) said the revised option the board adopted, plan B, would increase the infrastructure allocation from $3 million to $6 million and maintain a roughly $3 million set aside for direct home repairs. “It prioritizes the replacement of affordable housing that’s presumed lost as a result of a disaster,” Lenny said, and reminded commissioners the county must obligate the grant by 2031.

Commissioner Furr argued for strengthening the nexus to the neighborhoods that were hardest hit in April 2023 and asked staff to produce overlays that match storm damage, low‑to‑moderate‑income (LMI) areas and possible infrastructure projects. “Some neighborhoods were really walloped,” Furr said, urging more mitigation work before allocating funds to new housing sites.

Several commissioners pressed staff about whether HUD would permit non‑housing economic interventions. Staff said HUD is more restrictive for infrastructure and economic revitalization and that the county could pursue a modest economic‑revitalization tranche (staff discussed a $500,000 option in plan C) only after submitting additional studies to demonstrate a disaster nexus. “If the board were to direct us to go down that road, we would have those conversations with HUD,” staff said.

After debate, the board directed staff to pursue plan B and to continue negotiations with HUD and local cities to identify infrastructure projects that meet HUD’s nexus requirements. The motion adopting plan B passed by voice vote; the record shows broad board support.