Q&A of the Day – When to Expect Florida’s My Safe Florida Home Program in 2024
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Today’s Entry: My Safe Home Program. Has new money been approved for 2024?
Bottom Line: It has not yet, however that’s not bad news – it's entirely expected at this stage of the cycle. I’ll explain what you can expect to happen with the My Safe Florida Home Program and when you can expect new funds to be allocated for you to be able to upgrade your home. Here’s a quick refresh about what’s going on with the program... Prior to the start of this year’s legislative session Governor DeSantis laid out his budget blueprint and priorities for the session in what he called Florida’s Future Budget. In his budget plan, the governor called for the My Safe Florida Home Program to be funded with $107 million in annual recurring funding which would make the program permanent. DeSantis’ proposal also called for the state to continue assisting Florida homeowners through home inspections and cost sharing for approved home hardening and wind mitigation programs.
The My Safe Florida program has been a huge win-win for those who’ve taken advantage of it. The way the program has worked, for those who’ve previously qualified, is that the state kicks in grants covering $2 in costs for every $1 spent up to a total of $10,000. Accepted upgrades under the program include exterior doors, garage doors, windows, roofs and decks. Not only is the grant money available to upgrade your home, which if you haven’t done, you’d probably want to do anyway, but there’s also a huge insurance benefit to doing so as well. Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis says the average participant in the My Safe Florida home program, saves about $1,000 on insurance premiums annually due to the home improvements which better protect against storm damage. Based on what the DeSantis budget calls for, there would be a minimum of 10,700 Florida homeowners per year who would be able to take advantage of this opportunity.
A My Safe Florida Home Program bill has been filed in the state legislative session matching all details of Governor DeSantis’ request right down to the dollar amount requested. Importantly, if this bill is to become law, the first two major steps in the process have now occurred. One note about the priority. As the bill is currently written it states: For the first 60 days DFS accepts inspection and grant applications following any legislative appropriation, DFS must prioritize the review and approval of applications by low- and moderate-income persons and those applicants who are at least 60 years old. So, based on demand for the program, that’s how you can expect for the prioritization to take place as to who is accepted under it. That takes us to where we are in the process today.
A couple of weeks ago the state House referred the bill to all four committees which must advance the bill for a full House vote. Earlier this week the official Staff Analysis of the bill was completed. As soon as that happened, literally the same day, the first committee to consider this legislation scheduled a hearing. All signs are pointing in the right direction for this being approved in the state session. It’s also natural for this type of bill to be taken up a bit later into the session because effectively the legislation isn’t effectual unless it’s funded. The state’s budget is always the last order of business taken up during the last week of the session, which is five weeks from now.
Should the My Safe Florida Home Program pass in the state session and should it be fully funded as written – which I expect to happen. The new law would take effect July 1st. That’s when you could expect the application process to open once again for homeowners looking to participate in the program. I’ll keep you posted on the status of the legislation through the session.