State official: The money slated for Helene recovery isn’t nearly ‘enough’
by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press February 5, 2025
As North Carolina begins its long-term Helene recovery, the state faces a sobering math problem.
Full recovery will cost nearly $60 billion, according to a state budget office estimation. The federal government may chip in $15 billion — far less than requested. So far, the legislature has passed three relief packages, which collectively dedicate $1.1 billion to recovery. The state’s rainy day fund hovers around $3.7 billion, and it’s highly unlikely to be emptied to handle Helene efforts.
That calculus leaves a gaping hole for the legislature, as well as local communities and private donors, to fill as Western North Carolinians look to put their lives and livelihoods back together.
Jonathan Krebs, an advisor for the newly-created Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, sees it as an impossible equation.
“We didn’t get enough money, and it’s very likely that there will be a middle income group of people that are not going to be served because we run out of funds,” Krebs told the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery.
‘Broken promises’
Lawmakers were visibly frustrated as they recently questioned Pryor Gibson, director of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
The office helps North Carolinians impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Matthew get back into permanent housing. At least that was the plan.
Eight years removed from Hurricane Matthew and six years from Hurricane Florence, there are still 1,179 homes under construction or awaiting to be built. Progress has nearly halted because more money is needed.
Republican State Rep. Brenden Jones, co-chair of a joint legislative subcommittee on hurricane response and recovery, said at NCORR’s last legislative hearing that lawmakers were promised the final stages of housing recovery could be completed for less than $265 million.
But last week, Gibson requested about $35 million more.
That’s been a pattern for the agency, Jones said.
“The people of North Carolina have had enough of NCORR’s broken promises and mismanagement,” he said. “Let’s be clear: This is not our first committee meeting on your failures.”
Ghosts of recovery efforts past
As Western North Carolina embarks on a multi-year housing recovery of its own, lawmakers don’t want to be “haunted” by the ghosts of former Gov. Roy Cooper’s “failed” recovery agency. That’s the feeling of Republican state Sen. Warren Daniel, who represents Buncombe, Burke and McDowell counties.
Krebs and Matt Calabria, the director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, plan to learn from NCORR’s mistakes with a new housing recovery agency: the Division of Community Revitalization.
After Hurricane Florence struck North Carolina in 2018, NCORR was charged with housing recovery. In 2019, the agency requested $1.3 billion; the state offered $664 million initially in addition to $216 million in federal funding.
The agency’s first three years were “terrible,” Gibson said.
The office built fewer homes than expected, offered too many housing options and got caught in a bureaucratic web of unclear communication and expectations.
Things eventually improved.
But now, there isn’t enough funding left to complete the 639 homes under construction and 540 homes not yet started.
Krebs said that Helene recovery will be different. The Division of Community Revitalization will be an efficient group building homes quickly, “not a custom home factory.”
Also, NCORR seemingly suffered from its large size, which led to unnecessary bureaucratic delays. In contrast, the Division of Community Revitalization will be a smaller, more nimble office.
Finally, and maybe most important, communication and expectations were unclear for the North Carolina Office of Recovery. Calabria said that the Division of Community Revitalization will report directly to the governor with real time information on a weekly, if not daily, basis to “improve transparency.”
“We’ve learned plenty of lessons from past recoveries,” Krebs said.
The state of Helene recovery
Much of the financial picture remains hazy as North Carolina waits for federal funds to be approved and then deposited into the state’s bank account.
Right now, the Division of Community Revitalization is working on its Housing and Urban Development Action Plan, which outlines how federal housing dollars will be spent. Officials are also watching as disaster recovery funds come from various other sources.
A state report estimates that Helene recovery will total around $60 billion. Colby Rabon / Carolina Public Press
The governor’s office requested $26 billion from the federal government for Helene recovery. Krebs estimated that the state will receive $15.7 billion. It’s a “moving target” depending on eligibility demands and executive action, he cautioned.
In the long term, GROW NC plans to appeal for more funds, Krebs said.
But at the moment, the organization is working with what it has.
“Right now, we have a clear focus of having to manage scarce resources,” Krebs said. “We did not receive near enough money to support Western North Carolina.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-10 15:37:00
(The Center Square) – Hurricane Helene’s impact on North Carolina also extends to Tax Day, traditionally April 15 for state income tax and federal income tax.
Both the state Department of Revenue and the IRS have granted an extension until May 1.
In the state, the Department of Revenue says in a release, “The department reminds taxpayers that the due date for filing a calendar year 2024 North Carolina income tax return is April 15, 2025. However, the department will remove late action penalties assessed against a taxpayer affected by Hurricane Helene if the taxpayer files the state income tax return and pays tax due on or before May 1, 2025.”
Those unable to file by May 1 may still qualify for penalty relief, the Revenue Department says. Extensions beyond May 1 are also possible.
Those granted an extension by the IRS will automatically be granted an extension by the state, a release says.
The IRS release says the filing deadline is May 1 for FEMA disaster declarations impacting everyone in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The extension is granted without need for taxpayers to make the request.
Those needing a longer extension can make the request to the IRS.
Many tax experts are encouraging filing by Tuesday to avoid the situation of either agency making a mistake and assessing a penalty and then the filer needing to go through the process of getting it corrected.
SUMMARY: Democrats are concerned that GOP Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to discard over 60,000 votes in North Carolina’s state Supreme Court election could set a dangerous precedent for future Republican challenges in close elections nationwide. Griffin is trying to unseat Democratic Justice Allison Riggs, who leads by 734 votes. The Appeals Court sided with Griffin, ruling that certain votes should not be counted due to incomplete voter information. Democrats are preparing legislation to prevent such challenges in the future, but with Republicans controlling the state House, the bill’s success seems unlikely. National implications are feared if this strategy spreads.
SUMMARY: Gov. Roy Stein announced the creation of a Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, aiming to address the critical issue of sexual assault in North Carolina. He highlighted the need for specialized investigators at the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) to handle cases in a trauma-informed way, following his success in clearing a backlog of 12,000 untested rape kits. The initiative aims to solve cold cases, bring perpetrators to justice, and improve safety for all North Carolinians. Survivors, like Valerie Patterson, support the effort, emphasizing its importance in preventing further harm.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announces a Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit. This month, advocates and state leaders are raising awareness about the ongoing fight to hold predators accountable.
