North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein announced late last month a $50 million grant program to help fund Hurricane Helene recovery capital projects. The state-funded grant program will support local governments across western North Carolina with ongoing infrastructure repairs in their recovery efforts from the storm.
The grants titled, Helene Local Government Captial grants, will be administered by the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM). They were created in S.L. 2025-26, Section 2B to repair, renovate or replace infrastructure damaged by the hurricane.
Applications for the funding are open to local governments and federally recognized tribes located on trust lands with capital improvement needs created by Hurricane Helene. To be eligible, projects must be in FEMA-designated areas for Hurricane Helene and must have been denied FEMA Public Assistance (PA) reimbursement. For projects which the FEMA requests have been delayed or not determined, apply with any documentation available to determine eligibility. OSBM will prioritize grants based on the following criteria:
- Local government units/tribes with a population of 300,000 or fewer based on the 2023 Certified County Population Estimates from the State Demographer.
- Projects that qualify in whole or in part for FEMA PA Categories C through G.
Award amounts will be based on maximum statutory caps per recipient and county as set:
- 20% to one county, including grants to units of local government within that county ($9,950,000).
- 5% per eligible recipient ($2,487,500).
- 5% per zip code if that zip code only qualifies for FEMA PA Categories A through B ($2,487,500).
Applications must include estimated project cost totals and requested amounts of the project. The deadline to apply for the grant is Nov. 21. Funding will be distributed after the deadline closes and all applications are reviewed. Interested applicants can register for an online webinar held on Oct. 1, with further information about the program. Details on how to register for the webinar and where to apply for the funding can be found on the OSBM website.
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