Panama City wants to double funding for program to help residents relocate from flood zones

PANAMA CITY — City commissioners are seeking an additional $5 million from the Department of Economic Opportunity to boost the Voluntary Home Buyout program after Hurricane Michael.

The program is designed to acquire properties damaged by the Category 5 hurricane that are in high-risk flood areas and help property owners relocate outside flood zones. DEO officials notified the city in August that buyout values will be determined using current fair market value. Previously, the buyout value was limited to pre-Hurricane Michael fair market value.

So far, the program's funding remains capped at $5 million. City officials said the additional $5 million is needed to purchase all of the 37 properties on the target list.

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City Manager Mark McQueen said he and Mayor Greg Brudnicki have written to DEO Executive Director Dane Eagle seeking the extra money. Before Michael, city officials requested a $7.2 million loan from the DEO but received $5 million.

"Since then, we're very grateful the DEO revised its rules to allow for post-Hurricane Michael fair market values and appraisals," McQueen said. "That now means that the program cost is going to be roughly $10 million."

While awaiting word from DEO, McQueen said progress already has been made.

"We've already initiated the environmental assessments. We've already completed the appraisals and now this is going to be breaking down that subject area into three different phases," McQueen said. "Phase one is fully funded and this criteria will allow us to delineate phase two and phase three."

Commissioner Joshua Street said the program is something city officials have been working on for years, especially this past year.

"What we've seen is as housing costs have escalated, we want to make sure that the people whose homes are purchased have the opportunity to go to another home," Street said. "It's created more funds to purchase all of the homes, so we had to narrow the criteria and narrow the focus to be able to really purchase the homes for fair market value. And we're certainly hopeful to get people out of flooded areas very soon."

Street said they have focused on homes on Lake Avenue and Cincinnati Avenue because of their history of flooding.

"These homes have been flooded for decades and the city has spent millions of dollars trying to address the issue," Street said. "It is just part of where all the lines and all the drainage ends up. And unfortunately, this is the most cost-effective solution to help people really find a solution to the issue of flooding."

Brudnicki stressed the city has not received any of the money yet, but has been approved for the first $5 million loan and is seeking the additional $5 million.

It is unclear when city officials will hear back from the DEO, officials said.

Street said they aim to expand the program in the future, looking at an additional 85 homes in the city that flood regularly.

"We still have more to go and we're doing that through stormwater, parks and the way that we're renovating our parks. We're doing it with infrastructure improvements, and even this area will help alleviate flooding for other areas of the city," Street said. "We're really trying to look at a strategic approach, so that we can really resolve flooding throughout the city."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City requests $5 million more for Voluntary Buyout Program