Nearly two years after Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered Longboat Key, the barrier island town is still waiting on more than $29.7 million in FEMA reimbursements, leaving street repairs on hold and reserve funds stretched thin.

The town has received payment on just 8 of 26 eligible recovery projects, totaling $316,319 of the $29.7 million claimed, Your Observer reported on Wednesday, July 29.

"You've got to have the reserves or else you're just going to the bank and borrowing money," Town Manager Howard Tipton said. "You've got to have the ability to respond."

The financial squeeze is concrete. Longboat Key spent $5.6 million on debris removal alone. Its beaches lost more than 600,000 cubic yards of sand, and the town's FEMA claim covers 400,000 cubic yards at a cost of $12.2 million. Under the federal Stafford Act, FEMA covers at least 75% of eligible costs and the state picks up 12.5%, but the town must pay upfront and submit claims for reimbursement afterward.

Finance Director Susan Smith said the town made three or four budget amendments to cover the cleanup work. It costs roughly $67,000 per day to operate Longboat Key, she said, and the town currently holds about $11 million across three fund balance categories, enough for 163 days of operations.

That sounds adequate until you look at where the money went. The town's emergency fund dropped to $477,000 in late 2024. Its "Future Capital" fund was emptied entirely and remains at zero. The "extreme events/natural disasters" fund has recovered to $2.4 million, but Tipton said the town lacks the cash flow to manage street repair projects in the Sleepy Lagoon, Village, and Buttonwood neighborhoods because reserves are tied up fronting hurricane costs.

Tipton attributed the delays to FEMA staff turnover. He said representatives assigned to the town's case have changed as many as 10 times since the storms hit, forcing officials to restart conversations with people who have no notes from prior discussions.

Public Works Director Charlie Mopps wrote in an email that a mid-July meeting with FEMA was productive and that the beach claim should be moving to the next level of approval.

The issue resonates across Sarasota County. The City of Sarasota held its property tax rate flat despite absorbing $16 million in hurricane costs, as we reported July 31. Longboat Key's commission will hold its first public hearing on a proposed millage increase from 1.960 to 1.999 mills on Monday, September 14. That increase would add $529,252 to the emergency fund.

Meanwhile, a proposed state constitutional amendment on the November 3 ballot, Amendment 3, could expand homestead exemptions and reduce property tax revenue statewide by an estimated $11.8 billion per year. Tipton warned that losing that revenue source would make it harder for municipalities to maintain the reserves they need to front hurricane recovery costs.

FEMA reform legislation is not expected to pass in the current congressional session, according to Adam Cross, a lobbyist representing Longboat Key with Potomac Partners. Cross told Town Commissioner BJ Bishop there is bipartisan agreement that the delays originate at the federal level.

Longboat Key's next beach renourishment project, an 800,000 cubic yard effort, is scheduled to begin in 2028.