A homeowner must take ICC funds (if they are eligible for them and haven’t used their allocation for other purposes) first for elevations before taking their possible 30k from the RH for elevations. The important news is that A) it doesn’t take away from your compensation grant as an insurance deduction and B) means that you have access to a possible 60k in elevation assistance.
http://mail.thinknola.com/pipermail/roadhome/2007-April/000172.html
The elevation allowance is determined by
If homeowner meets all of the following 4 conditions, they are required by The Road Home to elevate:
Homeowner is exempt if they pulled building permits prior to launch of The Road Home Program (August 29, 2006) or prior to local municipality’s adoption of ABFE, whichever came first.
Local municipality’s adoption of ABFE
| Calcasieu | May 4, 2006 |
| Cameron | April 9, 2006 |
| Iberia | June 14, 2006 |
| Jefferson | July 19, 2006 |
| Kenner | September 3, 2006 |
| Terrebonne | June 28, 2006 |
| Vermilion | May 15, 2006 |
| St. Tammany | August 7, 2006 |
Homeowner must provide copies of the building permits as evidence that they pulled building permits in time.
Homeowners who are eligible to receive assistance, but not required to elevate include:
Homeowners required to elevate or eligible to and choosing the option to elevate
If a homeowner chooses to accept the Additional Mitigation Grant, the homeowner is required to use the funding assistance for non-elevation mitigation measures.
In cases where homes were totally destroyed by hurricanes Katrina or Rita, the homeowner will be eligible to receive $130/square foot3 to replace their home. In the context of The Road Home program totally destroyed homes are given a Type 1 Evaluation. The replacement allowance is based on the “compensation area†of the home, which is generally comparable to living area. Several line drawings that illustrate typical housing configurations and how replacement area is calculated are provided in Appendix B.
The unit rate is based on replacing a total loss home with a reasonable standard of living; it is not intended to compensate a homeowner to replace a custom or semicustom home. For the purposes of the program compensation area is defined as interior, conditioned spaces, and for single-story homes is considered to be equal to the footprint of the house, which is the primary dimension measured during Type 1 home evaluations. Exterior spaces such as porches and garages are not considered in the square feet (SF) calculation of compensation area unless they share a common wall and roof with the main structure. The determination of compensation area in destroyed, multi-storied homes is based on multiplying the footprint by the number of stories, minus any non-livable space on the second or third, etc. stories.
3 Unit price includes demolition costs, but not elevation costs. It should be noted that some homeowners may have received a FEMA grant for demolition. In this case, the built-in demolition allowance should be backed out of the square footage allowance. Many demo properties will be cleared by FEMA even after intake period. Many may receive demo services after Road Home Grant awarded.
An interior and exterior component by component damage assessment is performed for Type 2 evaluations, i.e.,
work in progress, partially damaged, and completed repairs. The following section includes a discussion of units of measurement and allowances and caps, where appropriate. Several line drawings that illustrate typical housing configurations and how repair area is calculated are provided in Appendix B.
The home elevation repair and replacement standard for single-family homes is indicated below. Issues may arise for duplexes having two owners. If, for example, one owner participates in the grant program and the other owner doesn’t, the home elevation process becomes complicated. Duplexes typically share a common foundation and it is not possible to raise only one side of the common foundation.
The home elevation repair and replacement policy does not address extenuating circumstances; it is assumed that they will be addressed programmatically. Estimating the cost to replace a house with a slab; only includes that portion of the house that is a living area. For example, for those homes with garages attached to the main living area via a breezeway—the slab area is not included in the cost estimate.
STANDARD:
Homes shall be elevated to a minimum of one foot above the advisory base flood elevation or to the local freeboard requirement with a maximum allowance of $30,000 per structure.
Homes may be raised to create an eight foot high parking and storage under home with a maximum allowance of $30,000.
For The Road Home, the following categories and elevation-based allowances were established for two common types of new and existing home foundations.
| Foundation Type Elevation | Increase (feet) | Unit Rate ($/sq. foot) |
| New Frame | 0 to 8 | $15.00 |
| Existing Slab | 0 to 4 | $52.27 |
| 4.1 to 8 | $84.94 | |
| Existing Frame | 0 to 4 | $26.14 |
| 4.1 to 8 | $39.20 |
*The elevation allowance is based on a new frame if The Road Home determines that the home sustained equal to or more than 51% damage.
This would be only $15,000 to raise a 1000 sq fthouse, $21,000 to raise a 1400 sq ft house, or $27,000 for a 1800 sq ft house
EM from a CHAT member:
Here’s a serious question: since RHP funds are federal, the 51% sustainable damage law must be adhered to. On many option letters the pre-storm and estimated cost of repairs clearly document that 51% issue. However the RHP awards letter sometimes/not sometimes states the client may be required to elevate. There is no box that states you are required to elevate. But the question is: Where will all this information go to? State? Local Parish government? Will the state/or local governments be provided with this 51% information? I believe FEMA provides parish governments with there destroyed & major damaged applicants.