The Helene Local Government Capital Grant Program provides financial assistance to local governments and federally recognized tribes in western North Carolina whose infrastructure was damaged by Hurricane Helene and who have been denied funding under FEMA's Public Assistance (FEMA PA) program. This program was authorized by Session Law 2025-26, Section 2B, and aims to ensure that essential infrastructure projects still receive the funding necessary to proceed, even if federal aid is unavailable.
Eligible applicants include units of local government and federally recognized tribes located on trust lands, provided they fall within FEMA Designated Areas for Hurricane Helene. Only projects that were previously submitted for FEMA PA and have received a formal or preliminary denial are eligible. Applications involving projects that have not been submitted to FEMA PA are ineligible. Nonprofits and other organizations that may have qualified for FEMA PA are excluded from this program.
The North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) oversees this program and evaluates applications based on criteria outlined in statute. Priority is given to applicants with populations under 300,000 as determined by the 2023 Certified County Population Estimates and projects qualifying under FEMA Public Assistance Categories C through G. Projects partially or fully qualifying under these categories are eligible. Grant awards are determined post-deadline rather than on a rolling basis due to statutory funding caps.
The total available funding for the program is just under $50 million. Statutory caps include a maximum of twenty percent allocated to any single county (including all municipalities within it), and a five percent cap per eligible recipient and per zip code for projects qualifying only under FEMA Categories A or B. All applicants are required to submit total estimated project costs and requested amounts as part of their application.
The application deadline is November 21, with submissions accepted until midnight. Interested parties are encouraged to review the pre-application checklist and guidance on award amounts before applying. OSBM offers webinars to provide more information and can be contacted at HeleneCapitalGrants@osbm.nc.gov for questions. Note that applications must be completed in one sitting, as partial submissions cannot be saved and resumed later.
Contact OSBM before applying to clarify eligibility; review award guidance; join informational webinar
