After Hurricane Irma swept the Keys in 2017, the state Department of Economic Opportunity allocated $75 million for the voluntary home buyout program of the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). The voluntary home buyout program targets homes with repetitive damage, in low-income households. The city negotiates a deal, buys the home, and demolishes it to leave the lot open for use as a “pocket park” green space or for stormwater management.
The city has $5 million to spend and there are currently nine properties in the program.
“We are looking for an additional 10 to 15 applicants to complete the program and expend the available grant funds,” said Marathon grants coordinator Maria Covelli.
Michelle Cook is one of the applicants.
“I could have sold this home five times,” she said of the rental property on the corner of 39th and Washington streets in Marathon. “But I wouldn’t wish this property with all its flooding problems on anybody. It needs to be torn down.”
Cook said she took complicated and expensive steps to preserve the property — re-grading the yard, building a protective wall around the front door, new gutters to redirect rain — but none was sufficient.
The city has enough funds to serve another 10 to 15 applicants. A recent rule change means homeowners could recoup a higher value for homes with repetitive damage.
“Previously, the offers were valued at pre-Irma prices. Now, the voluntary buyout pays the post-disaster fair market value,” Covelli said. Most homes in the program fall into the $175,000 to $250,000 range, although the cap for an individual home is $750,000.
That means Cook will be made whole — recouping what she paid for the rental property built in 1965. Although Cook’s last tenants moved out more than two years ago, the Voluntary Buyout Program also has a provision for tenants. Renters who need to relocate due to the home being demolished can be provided up to $10,000 for out-of-county relocation expenses or $25,000 for in-county relocation expenses.
Marathon’s voluntary buyout program may also benefit homeowners who face persistent and unfixable code violations with the attendant fines.
“This could really help them,” Covelli said. “And the Department of Economic Opportunity’s switch to fair market value, well, that’s going to change a lot of minds for homeowners who were previously undecided about entering the program.”
The buyout program is administered through Tetra Tech, the same contractor managing the program for Monroe County.
For more information or to apply for the program, visit the City of Marathon’s website and click on the Planning Department page, and then the Voluntary Buyout tab. Covelli is at covellim@ci.marathon.fl.us.
