Bilirakis Brings Affordable Housing Fair to Pasco Tonight at 6, Venue Only by RSVP

Congressman Gus Bilirakis hosts an Affordable Housing Fair in Pasco County tonight at 6 p.m., and anyone who wants to attend has to RSVP first. The location is not being published. The pitch is practical: staff and program representatives in one room to walk residents through what help exists for a down payment, a rent payment, a storm-damaged roof, or an insurance premium that has doubled.

Bilirakis said in announcing the fair that housing affordability is one of the biggest pressures on families in the district, and that he wanted residents to know what resources they may already qualify for while he works on longer-term fixes in Washington. Details and the RSVP are on his official announcement page. His New Port Richey district office is at 8731 Citizens Drive, Suite 135, and the phone there is (727) 232-2921.

The money already on the ground here

The fair is tied to three local projects Bilirakis helped fund, totaling $15.2 million.

Amount	Project
$7.2M	Affordable senior housing, West Pasco
$4M	Magnolia Oaks veterans community
$4M	Vincent House housing initiatives

Magnolia Oaks is the one residents can actually drive past. It is the Pasco County Housing Authority's first veterans-only community, built on Massachusetts Avenue in New Port Richey with 77 townhouse units in one, two and three bedrooms. Local reports put it less than two miles from the VA clinic on Little Road, with a community center and a pool on site. The ribbon cutting was in December, after roughly seven years of planning.

The $7.2 million senior housing award targets West Pasco residents on fixed incomes. The Vincent House money supports housing for adults living with serious mental illness.

Where the $585 million sits

The bigger number Bilirakis is pointing to is the $585,704,000 direct allocation Pasco County received from HUD in January 2025 through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, money that followed Hurricanes Idalia, Helene and Milton.

That is not a check to residents. The county is spending it through its Better Future program, and its action plan puts about $305 million of it into housing: roughly $155 million for repair, reconstruction and elevation, $100 million for building affordable housing, and about $50 million for manufactured homes. The repair program tops out at $240,000 per award.

Applications for the Better Future Individual Housing Program opened in December 2025, with case managers working intake events from Hudson to Zephyrhills. The county later widened eligibility to households at up to 120% of area median income, which works out to $87,600 for one person and $125,160 for a family of four. The program line is 727-228-4936.

Insurance, and what is still just a bill

Bilirakis has filed legislation that would give Florida homeowners a $10,000 federal tax credit to offset property insurance costs. That one has not passed. He is also a co-sponsor of the HELPER Act, which would attack the down payment barrier for teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and other essential workers who often cannot afford to live in the communities they work in.

One housing measure he backed has become law: the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. He has also supported the Saving the American Dream Act and the More Homes on the Market Act, both aimed at supply and at the regulatory costs baked into new construction.

Bilirakis has said there is no single fix, and that building more, clearing barriers and dealing with Florida's insurance market all have to happen at once.

What comes next locally is construction. Pasco's Better Future affordable housing program is steering money toward rental properties of five or more units, which means the effect of the $100 million construction pot will show up in permits and groundbreakings over the next couple of years, not tonight. Residents with a storm-damaged home who never applied should start with the county number above.

For more on county decisions and the money behind them, read our other government and politics stories and our community coverage at Pasco County Community Website. Follow us on Facebook for updates, and if you attend tonight's fair, tell your neighbors what you learned. Join the conversation in our Community Forum.

Header photo: Wknight94 talk / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)