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RESOLUTION NO. 2006-26302
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,
FLORIDA, URGING THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO
CONSIDER EXPANSION OF THE ELIGIBILITY
CRITERIA FOR THE SAFE FLORIDA HOME PROGRAM
TO INCLUDE HURRICANE MITIGATION MEASURES
FOR MULTIFAMILY BUILDINGS; FURTHER URGING
THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO DISTRIBUTE THE
LATEST $100 MILLION OF FEDERAL COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDING IN
ACCORDANCE WITH CONGRESS'S INTENT THAT
PARTICULAR EMPHASIS BE PLACED ON THE
REPAIR, REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION
OF AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING; FURTHER
REQUESTING THE CREATION OF A GRANT
PROGRAM THAT ASSISTS LOCAL COMMUNITIES'
COMPLIANCE WITH THE ALTERNATIVE POWER
SOURCE REQUIREMENT OF SECTION 553.509,
FLORIDA STATUTES; AND FURTHER URGING THE
STATE OF FLORIDA TO PLACE PRIORITY ON THE
DISTRIBUTION OF AVAILABLE MITIGATION FUNDS
TO THE HIGHEST RISK LOCATIONS, AS IDENTIFIED
BY THE INSURANCE RATES ESTABLISHED BY
CITIZEN'S PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION.
WHEREAS, a total of eight (8) hurricanes have impacted the State of Florida in
the past two years; and
WHEREAS, on February 13, 2006, the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) awarded $82 million in Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) funds to the State of Florida for the purpose of assisting in the recovery of the
most impacted and distressed areas related to the consequences of Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita, and Wilma; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) awarded Miami-
Dade County a total of $16.1 million pursuant to this funding; and
WHEREAS, the City of Miami Beach submitted three funding requests, totaling
$1,555,000, in response to a funding announcement from Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County recommended funding nine of the 43 projects
that were submitted; and
WHEREAS, eighty percent (80%) of the County's CDSG disaster funding was
allocated to the rehabilitation of single family homes; and
WHEREAS, the 2006 Florida Legislature created the Safe Florida Homes
Program, and further provided $250 million for this Program; and
WHEREAS, the Safe Florida Homes program is only available to homeowners of
single family homes that are insured for less than $500,000 and have a homestead
exemption; and
WHEREAS, residents and owners of units in multi-family structures are excluded
from the Safe Florida Homes Program; and
WHEREAS, only 7.7 percent (7.7%) of the housing units in Miami Beach are
located in single family homes; and
WHEREAS, multi-family structures comprise 64 percent (64%) of the total
housing units in the coastal cities located in Volusia, Martin, Indian River, St. Lucie, Palm
Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties; and
WHEREAS, according to Miami-Dade County's Master Hurricane Wilma
Damage Report, there were 342 unsafe units in Miami Beach, and the four cities of
Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach had 50.1 % of all
identified unsafe units in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, Section 553.509, Florida Statutes, requires an alternative power
source for certain types of multi-family structures; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature did not provide funding assistance at the time
the alternative power source requirement was created; and
WHEREAS, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) was organized
by the State of Florida as the State's "insurer of last resort"; and
WHEREAS, premiums charged by Citizens are based on perceived risk and
therefore are not uniform Statewide; and
WHEREAS, through Citizens, the State of Florida has established a methodology
that identifies the vulnerability and risk of property throughout the State; and
WHEREAS, the distribution of State, Federal and County mitigation assistance
should be prioritized based on an area's risk; and
WHEREAS, HUD has announced that the State of Florida will receive an
additional appropriation of CDBG disaster funding, in the amount of $100 million; and
WHEREAS, the press release announcing HUD's latest funding states that the
funds were allocated based on Congress's intent that particular emphasis be placed on
the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of affordable rental housing; and
WHEREAS, the State of Florida has indicated that the additional $100 million in
CDBG disaster funding will be added to the Safe Florida Homes Program, and as such,
will not be available to assist the majority of the most vulnerable households in the State;
and
WHEREAS, the Governor of the State of Florida has created the Property and
Casualty Insurance Reform Committee; and
WHEREAS, the Committee is charged with making recommendations on
improving competition and creating incentives for insurance policy writing in all markets;
encouraging commercial as well as residential hazard mitigation; improving insurance
agent underwriting practices; reducing the reliance on Citizens Property Insurance
Corporation; and evaluating the effectiveness of the programs enacted by the 2006
Legislature.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the Mayor and City
Commission strongly urge the State of Florida to:
1. Consider expansion of the eligibility criteria for the Safe Florida Home Program to
include hurricane mitigation measures for multi-family buildings;
2. Distribute the latest $100 million of federal Community Development Block Grant
funding in accordance with Congress's intent that particular emphasis be placed
on the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of affordable rental housing;
3. Create a grant program that assists local communities in complying with the
alternative power source requirement of Section 553.509, Florida Statutes; and
4. Place priority on the distribution of available mitigation funds to the highest risk
locations, as identified in part by the methodology used and the insurance rates
established by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 6th
Mayor
David Dermer
ATTEST:
-~~City~~~
Robert Parcher
APPROVED AS TO
FORM & LANGUAGE
~~~
. ey~ Dal8
COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY
Condensed Title:
A Resolution requesting specific actions by the State of Florida to provide disaster mitigation
assistance for housin in Miami Beach.
Ke Intended Outcome Su orted:
Improve the City's Financial Health and Maintain Overall Bond Rating and Improve Resident Ratings
of Public Safet Services.
Item Summary/Recommendation:
The State of Florida has created the Safe Florida Homes program, which is currently only available to
owners of homesteaded single family homes that are insured for less than $500,000. Additionally, the
State will receive $100 million from the federal government, which the State has indicated will be
targeted to the Safe Florida Homes program. Given the number of housing units in multifamily
buildings in Miami Beach, the Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission urge
the State of Florida to take the following actions:
1. Expansion of the eligibility criteria of the Safe Florida Homes program to include multifamily
buildings, provided certain criteria are met;
2. Allocation of the latest round of CDBG funding to the full range of needs identified by HUD,
specifically to Congress' intent that particular emphasis be placed on the repair, rehabilitation and
reconstruction of affordable rental housing;
3. Inclusion of a grant program that assists local communities in complying with the Legislature's
unfunded mandate that requires alternative power sources in certain types of multi-family housing;
4. Prioritize the distribution of all available mitigation funds to the highest risk location, as identified
by the rates determined by Citizen's Property Insurance Corporation.
Advisory Board Recommendation:
I None
Financial Information:
Source of Amount Account Approved
Funds: 1
[:J 2
3
4
OBPI Total
Financial Impact Summary:
Ci Clerk's Office Le islative Trackin
Kevin Crowder, Economic Development
n-Offs:
Department Director
City Manager
m
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MIAMI BEACH
AGENDA ITEM
DATE
C7W
9-{;-()h
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MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager \...-- ~
September 6,2006 0
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI
BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO CONSIDER EXPANSION OF
THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR THE SAFE FLORIDA HOME PROGRAM TO
INCLUDE HURRICANE MITIGATION MEASURES FOR MULTIFAMILY BUILDINGS;
FURTHER URGING THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO DISTRIBUTE THE LATEST $100
MILLION OF FEDERAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDING IN
ACCORDANCE WITH CONGRESS' INTENT THAT PARTICULAR EMPHASIS BE
PLACED ON THE REPAIR, REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF
AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING; FURTHER REQUESTING THE CREATION OF A
GRANT PROGRAM THAT ASSISTS LOCAL COMMUNITIES COMPLIANCE WITH THE
ALTERNATIVE POWER SOURCE REQUIREMENT OF SECTION 553.509, FLORIDA
STATUTES; AND FURTHER URGING THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO PLACE PRIORITY
ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF AVAILABLE MITIGATION FUNDS TO THE HIGHEST RISK
LOCATIONS, AS IDENTIFIED BY THE INSURANCE RATES ESTABLISHED BY
CITIZEN'S PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the Resolution.
ANALYSIS
On February 13, 2006, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded
$82,904,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the State of Florida
for the purpose of assisting in the recovery of the most impacted and distressed areas
related to the consequences of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The Florida Department
of Community Affairs allocated $16.1 million of this funding to the recovery efforts in Miami-
Dade County, for which the County solicited funding requests.
The City submitted four projects for this funding, of which the County considered three
requests totaling $1,555,000. On July 25-26, an evaluation committee discussed and ranked
the proposals received by the County, and recommended funding for nine projects. The
projects submitted by the City were not recommended for funding; a $1.2 million request by
the Miami Beach Housing Authority was recommended.
At the committee meeting, County staff mentioned that HUD was working on another $1
billion for assistance to the states that were impacted by last year's hurricanes. On August
18, 2006, HUD issued a press release announcing $973 million to promote long-term
recovery in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas, identifying $100,066,518 for the State
of Florida.
On Saturday, August 19, 2006, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced
the approval of this additional $100 million, adding that it would be added to the $250 million
provided by the Legislature for the Safe Florida Homes program. This program provides free
home inspections and $5,000 mitigation grants for improvements to homesteaded single
family homes that are insured for less than $500,000. Approximately $100 million of this
program has been identified for distribution as grants to local governments, with the
expectation that the local governments will provide the match and administer a local
program. Local governments may use their State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP)
funding as the match.
In reviewing this program, and in anticipation of the additional funding provided by HUD to
the State of Florida, the Administration became concerned that the City would not be
provided the opportunity to compete for its fair share of the mitigation funding, since
multifamily structures are excluded from participation in the State's mitigation program.
Additionally, for the first round of CDBG disaster funding, Miami-Dade awarded 80% of the
funds to programs targeting single family homes. Additionally, only 7.7% of the City's
housing units are single family homes. The remaining 92.3% are in multi-family structures
and ineligible for this assistance.
On August 23, 2006, the Administration held a conference call with representatives of the
Florida Department of Financial Services and the Florida Department of Community Affairs
to discuss these concerns, and has subsequently forwarded the additional information on
this issue (Attachment 'A'). Furthermore, staff presented these concerns to the August 24,
2006 meeting of the Governor's Property Insurance Reform Committee in Orlando.
To date, the Administration has identified some actions that should be taken to provide
Miami Beach with the opportunity to compete for mitigation funds. These include:
1. Expansion of the eligibility criteria of the Safe Florida Homes program to include
multifamily buildings, provided certain criteria are met;
2. Allocation of the latest round of CDBG funding to the full range of needs identified by
HUD, specifically to Congress' intent that particular emphasis be placed on the
repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of affordable rental housing;
3. Inclusion of a grant program that assists local communities in complying with the
Legislature's unfunded mandate that requires alternative power sources in certain
types of multi-family housing;
4. Prioritize the distribution of all available mitigation funds to the highest risk location,
as identified by the rates determined by Citizen's Property Insurance Corporation.
CONCLUSION
The Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission request these actions
by Resolution, to be submitted to the Governor's Office, the Department of Financial
Services, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Property Insurance Reform
Committee.
JMG/HF/kc
Attachment
T:\AGENDA\2006\sep0606\Regular\Windstorm mitigation memo.doc
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MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
Tel: 305.673.7193, Fax: 305.673.7033
ATTACHMENT 'A' - HOUSING MITIGATION
The City of Miami Beach requests that the Florida Legislature consider expansion of the
eligibility criteria for the Safe Florida Homes program, to apply the similar guidelines to
multifamily buildings (apartments or condos), making grants available for $2,500 per unit, as
long as the per-unit insured value is below $500,000. In the case of condominiums, the grant
could only be available per homesteaded condo.
The City of Miami Beach requests consideration that the latest CDBG funding from HUD
($100M) be allocated to the full range of needs identified by HUD, to benefit the low and
moderate income population while continuing to award funds for programs that promote the
statutory program objective of strengthening homes (including multi-family units) against
hurricanes and reducing property losses. This funding should be distributed by the State rather
than the individual counties as formula grants, based on a combination of factors that include
appropriate damage assessment and storm impact, the community's entitlement status,
low/mod benefit, the community's location as it relates to windstorm rates, value of potential
property loss, and demonstrated need by the applicant.
The City of Miami Beach requests the inclusion of a grant program that assists local
communities in complying with the Legislature's unfunded mandate that requires generators for
certain types of multi-family housing (553.509 F.S.).
The City of Miami Beach urges the State of Florida to place priority on the distribution of
available mitigation funds to the highest risk locations, as identified by the varying premiums
charged by Citizen's Property Insurance.
The City submits these requests based in part on the evidence that 82% of the housing in
Miami-Dade County's coastal cities is in multi-family buildings, as were the vast majority of
units that were declared "unsafe" throughout Miami-Dade County following Hurricane Wilma.
This request is also based on the City's recent experience with both the distribution of Miami-
Dade County's initial CDBG award of $16 million, and the need for the City to create its
own blue roof program following Hurricane Wilma.
Additional background on these issues is provided below in greater detail.
MIAlv\IBEACH
FLORI DA' S24-HOURMARKETPLACE
We are commiffed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community
My Safe Florida Home Program
This program provides a $5,000 matching grant for mitigation improvements to housing that
is a Site Built, Single-Family Home that is homesteaded and insured for less than $500,000.
This program received $250 million in this year's state budget, of which $100 million is
allocated for grants to local government for mitigation assistance to low-income and
moderate-i ncome residents.
Through this program matching grants will be awarded to local governments that implement
or expand upon programs promoting the statutory program objective of strengthening homes
against hurricanes and reducing property losses.
Unfortunately, although Miami Beach was significantly impacted by Hurricane Wilma, the
legislation that established this program's criteria excludes eligibility by virtually any property
in Miami Beach.
Miami Beach / Coastal Housing Characteristics
Miami Beach Housing Stock Characteristics (2006 Tax Roll):
Single Family 5, 150
Duplex 453
Rental Apartments 21,597
Condominiums 38,536
Cooperatives 8 1 0
Mixed Use 1 75
Town homes 88
Total 66,809
7.7%
0.7%
32.3%
57.7%
1.2%
0.3%
0.1%
Although the vast majority of single family homes in Miami Beach are worth more than
$500,000, the median sale price of condominiums is $338,000. These condominiums (as
well as rental apartments) are primarily 1 bedroom units. Due to the City's recent success,
there are some assumptions made about our community that are not quite accurate. Miami
Beach is not just luxury high-rise condos and the glitzy South Beach seen on TV, rather a city
of 13 very diverse neighborhoods that continues to be designated as an entitlement
jurisdiction, receiving housing and community development funding from HUD for the City's
low and moderate income population. There are currently over 2,500 households in
affordable housing in Miami Beach that is assisted by federal or state housing funds.
Mitigation is an issue for all types of housing in Florida, and Miami Beach recognizes the
vulnerability and needs of single-family homeowners throughout the state. However, given the
recent run-up in real estate costs, the low-moderate income population increasingly lives in
multifamily buildings, especially rental housing. The population that is most vulnerable to
1\i\IAMIBEACH
FLORI DA' S24-HOURMARKETPLACE
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We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropicol, historic community
damage from wind and flooding, as well as disruption and displacement due to evacuation,
lives along the coast, and the vast majority in multifamily buildings. In fact, 64% of the
housing units in the coastal communities of the eight east coast Florida counties, from Dade to
VoIusia, are not single family homes (see attachment Coastal City Housing). Eighty-two
percent of coastal community housing in Miami-Dade County is multi-family.
Miami Beach is growing increasingly concerned that the needs of this significant population
do not appear to be getting their fair share of assistance that should be going to the entire
population of the impacted areas. This is an especially difficult issue when citizens hear
announcements and stories in the media about all of the money that is being allocated, and
then ask their local government why it is not making it all the way down, leaving it to the local
officials to try to explain the criteria that is based on decisions that take place beyo'nd their
control.
A perfect example is the "Blue Roof Program", which was heavily publicized after Hurricane
Wilma. Unfortunately, the vast majority of buildings in Miami Beach have flat or barrel-tile
roofs, which do not qualify for that program. The City of Miami Beach acquired
approximately 350 blue tarps for $15,000 for structures that did not qualify for the official
Blue Roof Program.
As identified in Miami-Dade County's Master Hurricane Wilma Damage Report, there were
297 unsafe units in Aventura, 342 in Miami Beach, 37 in North Bay Village, and 285 in
Sunny Isles Beach. These four relatively small coastal cities had 50. 1 % of all identified unsafe
units countywide, are located in an evacuation zone for a Category 1 storm, and have a
majority of their housing in multi-family buildings. These cities are almost entirely dependent on
Citizen's for windstorm coverage, and are located east of US 1, resulting in higher premiums
than other locations. These cities, along with the other barrier island communities, represent
over 22% of the total taxable property value of all of Miami-Dade County. The two larger
cities of Hialeah and Miami had a total of 415 unsafe units in 39 buildings.
As it relates to this existing Safe Florida Home program, the 2007 Legislature should consider
expansion of the eligibility criteria to apply the similar guidelines to multifamily buildings
(apartments or condos), making grants available for $2,500 per unit, as long as the per-unit
insured value is below $500,000. In the case of condominiums, the grant could only be
available per homesteaded condo.
First CDBG Disaster Recovery Florida Appropriation
From the first CDBG Allocation, DCA allocated $16.1 million to Miami Dade County for
disaster relief, long term recovery and the restoration of infrastructure related to Hurricane
Katrina and Wilma. Although the City applied for funding, we were not awarded funding
through the County's competitive process. While the City respects the nature of competitive
processes, we have transmitted our concerns with the process used by the County in this case.
We remain concerned that our there may be some lingering assumptions about Miami Beach
1v\1/\/V\IBEACH
FLORI DA' S24-HOURMARKETPLACE
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We ore committed to providing excel/ent public se/Vice and safety to aI/ who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community
that are not understood, especially as it related to the impact of the recent hurricanes on our
community.
This program required that a minimum of 70% of funds be allocated for housing projects, and
that up to 30% could be allocated for infrastructure. Based on the applications that were
submitted, 42% of the funding requests were for single family housing, 11 % for multi-family,
16% for infrastructure, and 29% for generators.
Of the County's funding recommendations, 80% was allocated to Single Family rehabilitation,
85 to Multi-family rehabilitation, 13% to an Infrastructure project, and no funding for
generators.
The evaluation criteria included a ranking of areas that were "hardest hit," which was
basically defined as an area's participation in the official Blue Roof Program, dismissing not
only the City of Miami Beach's overall ineligibility for that program, but also the County's
damage report indicating that at least 75% of the designated unsafe units countywide were in
multi-family structures.
It also appeared that the applicants were at a disadvantage, since Miami-Dade County was
not only conducting the evaluation and administering the grant, but also submitted grant
requests totaling more than $24 million when only $15.6 million in project funding was
available.
New CDBG Disaster Recovery Appropriation
HUD has announced a new allocation of $100,066,518 to the State of Florida, to be used
for: restoring needed affordable housing, rebuilding critical infrastructure, and stimulating the
economies of the areas.
HUD's press release states that funds were allocated based on Congress's intent that
particular emphasis be placed on the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of affordable
rental housing. Also, special priority is placed on the unmet needs of evacuees forced from
their own homes. The allocation was based on data on the extent and concentration of
housing damage, as well as the unmet needs submitted by each state (the City has submitted
its list to the County and State).
Other housing repair, hardening of homes that suffered damage and infrastructure are given
lower priority weights by HUD, according to the release.
One of our initiatives appears to be eligible for this new round of funding. During Wilma, we
had a problem with transporting and sheltering victims of the storm where roofs received some
damage and the building needed to be evacuated. This initiative would allow for programs
that potentially shelter in place, if we have a program to address minor roof damage. More
extensive roof or structural damage would require relocation of people in the building. One
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FLORI DA' S24-HOURMARKETPLACE
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We are committed to providing excellent public selYice and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic cammunity
problem is that there are no shelters in Miami Beach, and we have been unsuccessful in
securing one even for the post-storm period. For a storm like Wilma, which caused roof
damage but little structural damage, people tended to stay in their damaged properties, as
opposed to traveling to southern or western Miami-Dade County, due to the impact that
would have on getting kids to school and getting to work, among other things. It is important
to have a plan to address this type of storm to allow for a short duration, up to 12 weeks, of
shelter in local hotels through a voucher program, or some other
At last Saturday's Insurance Idearaiser, it sounded like Insurance Commissioner Kevin
McCarty, in announcing the $100 million allocation, said that the new federal money would
be added to the $250 million already in the safe homes program. The City is concerned
about this for the reasons mentioned previously, especially in light of HUD's statement
regarding Congress' intent that particular emphasis be placed on the repair, rehabilitation
and reconstruction of affordable rental housing.
The City requests consideration that these funds be allocated to the full range of needs
identified by HUD, to benefit the low and moderate income population while continuing to
award funds for programs that promote the statutory program objective of strengthening
homes (including multi-family units) against hurricanes and reducing property losses. This
should include programs that mitigate not only wind damage, but that mitigate all forms of
hurricane damage. Infrastructure programs should also be evaluated on how much they
reduce the exposure of the National Flood Insurance Program.
This funding should be distributed by the State rather than the individual counties as formula
grants, based on a combination of factors that include appropriate damage assessment and
storm impact, the community's entitlement status, low/mod benefit, the community's location
as it relates to windstorm rates, value of potential property loss, and demonstrated need by
the applicant.
Additionally, there is the continuing need to comply with the Legislature's unfunded mandate
that requires generators for certain types of multi-family housing (553.509 F .S.). Provided
income criteria are met, a program to address this requirement would clearly meet the criteria
from HUD.
MI.AMIBEACH
FLORI DA' S24-HOURMARKETPLACE
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We are commiffed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community