SEBASTIAN — There’s help on the way for Sebastian veterans who can’t afford needed repairs on their homes, and for disabled com bat veterans who pay taxes on homesteaded property.
The City of Sebastian is seeking applications from veterans who might need a new roof, a wheelchair ramp or other home repairs.
Officials are offering cash to do those jobs, thanks to approximately $28,000 leftover from a grant the city secured to repair a building at Riverview Park. The money is available to low and very low income veterans.
“We’d like to get that money spent,” Community Development Director and former U.S. Marine Joe Griffin told the city’s Veteran Advisory Committee during a recent meeting, calling on the members to spread the word about the grant funding.
So far, the city has just one applicant. That applicant has been deemed income eligible and is still going through the process of being approved.
Each applicant can receive up to $8,000 – enough to cover a hefty home improvement project. Griffin explained that the cap on applicant funds is meant to preserve money for other applicants.
“We want to help as many veterans as possible,” Griffin said.
Repairs to mobile homes, except to make the home accessible for a disabled family member, are not allowed under the grant program’s rules. Appliances, additions to patios and porches, landscaping, and similar types of work also do not qualify for the grant.
What work does qualify includes roof repairs, plumbing and electrical work, replacing doors and windows and kitchen cabinets in poor condition.
Replacing damaged drywall, rotted siding, and kitchen sinks also count, among many others.
Veterans need not be disabled to apply, only to meet certain income requirements based on their family situation.
They must also own their home and must remain the owner-occupant for one year after the improvements. If they were to no longer be the owner-occupant within one year, they would be required to pay back the grant amount.
Single veterans qualify if their gross annual income is either less than $18,900 (for very low income) or less than $30,200 (for low income). A two-person veteran household qualifies if the income is less than $21,600 or $34,500.
And a veteran with a family of four qualifies if the family’s income is either less than $26,950 or $43,100.
Disability compensation from Veteran’s Affairs does not count toward the veteran’s annual income.
Once a veteran applies for the grant funding, staff in the Community Development Department review the paperwork and verify that the applicant qualifies.
As a veteran himself, Griffin said the program is particularly important to him.
“I’ve got a personal stake in this,” he said, explaining that the 3-member committee that is tasked with overseeing the funds and their disbursal includes himself.
The other two members on the committee are Dorri Bosworth and Jan King, both of the Community Development Department.
Griffin credits Bosworth and King for doing the heavy lifting on the program – meaning handling the bureaucratic layers of paperwork and financial accounting required under the federal grant requirements.
Bosworth explained that the Community Development Block Grant the city secured has a lifespan of five years.
The city is now three years into it and has just two to spend the remaining funds.
“We don’t want to have to give it back,” Bosworth said.
“We’ll find a way to spend it,” Griffin said.
Depending upon whether the city can get enough qualified applicants interested in the grant, Griffin said the city could look for larger grants to help more veterans.
Bosworth said the city could coordinate with Indian River County to expand the program’s reach.
“We’ll see how this goes,” Griffin said. “I think this might be a great opportunity.”
Anyone interested in learning more about applying can call the Community Development Department at (772) 589-5518.
To get an application, email Jan King at [email protected].
There are approximately 18,000 veterans living in Indian River County, according to Joel Herman, Veterans Service manager.
While the home improvement grant program offers temporary help to Sebastian veterans in need, a recent change in Florida law could permanently reduce the burden of disabled veterans across the state who are struggling to pay their property tax bills.
Ushered in by a referendum on the November ballot, the new law expands a benefit in place since 2010 which gives disabled combat veterans with homestead exemption a break on property taxes which corresponds to their disability rating.
Veterans who lived in Florida prior to combat disability have since 2010 been eligible for discounts on property taxes.
As of Jan. 1, disabled veterans who were injured in combat and who moved to Florida after their military service and bought property are eligible for that same discount on taxes for their homesteaded property.
The measure was opposed by the League of Women Voters of Florida, citing that it would cost local governments up to $15 million, but veterans groups and the public supported the ballot initiative, which passed muster with 63 percent of the voters.
More information is available by calling the office of David Nolte, Indian River County Property Appraiser, at (772) 567-8000 ext. 1469, or via the county property appraiser’s office website www.ircpa.org under the heading “exemptions” where veterans can download a form called “Service Connected Total and Permanent Disability Exemption.”
Staff Writer Lisa Zahner contributed to this report.
