Apply for a Tree Grant

The Tree Grant aims to encourage neighborhood residents to plant trees in community-maintained areas, as well as road right-of-ways within or adjacent to their neighborhoods. Trees provide numerous environmental benefits such as oxygen production, air pollution control, noise abatement, rainfall dispersion to control flooding, and aesthetic and wildlife enhancement.

• Your neighborhood must register with our Office of Neighborhood Relations before we will consider you for the grant
  • Download the Registry of Neighborhood and Civic Associations information packet
• Neighborhood, Civic, Homeowner Associations, Crime Watch Programs and Special Taxing Districts in Hillsborough County are eligible
• HOA's must be released from their developer
• You may only receive funding under this program once every two years

Tree grant information

• We invite neighborhood leaders to propose projects that will add trees in community-maintained areas and/or road right-of-ways within or adjacent to the neighborhood
• The area you propose in the application can be either community-owned, or County-owned and community-maintained
• You must attach proof of ownership and/or county maintenance agreements to the application
• This is a year-round matching grant program 
• You must submit your application by Sept. 30 of each year
• We will award a maximum of $2,500 per association
• Your association may receive funding under this program only once every two years
• We encourages you to combine this project with installation of micro-irrigation through the Low Volume Irrigation Grant Program

Other Requirements and Considerations

• You must have a water source available for the new plantings
• You can spend a maximum of 50 percent of the Tree Grant monies on drought-tolerant shrubbery
• We require you to provide a minimum match of 50 percent of the funds requested, either as cash or in-kind services
• We encourage a match above 50 percent
• We require your association to involve residents to provide volunteer manpower in the planting, care and maintenance of the trees
• Type and size of plantings is required for County Forester approval
  • You don't have to get this approval before applying
  • Our staff will arrange for the review upon receipt of the application
• We will give consideration to including native vegetation and shrubbery as complements to trees to prevent run-off and retain moisture
• Cypress mulch is not an allowable expense, for conservation reasons
  • Other types of mulch are allowable.
• All plantings must account for required vehicular clearance recovery and unobstructed vehicle lines of sight
• The association is responsible for any permits necessary for the project
• We encourage you to utilize agriculture programs in the public schools as a potential source for trees

Projects Not Qualified

• Removing or moving currently planted trees
• Purchasing palms
• Completed on private property, subsequently benefiting an individual property owner
• Begun prior to Board of County Commissioners approval
• Presented without evidence of association Board of Directors (Trustee) approval

1. Fill out the application
   • Download document
2. Read each question carefully and respond in the space provided
3. Submit the completed application:
   • Paper- print it out and drop off or mail to:
     County Center
     Office of Neighborhood Relations
     601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 28th Floor
     Tampa, FL 33602
   • You can also email your application
     • If you email your application, you still must also mail or deliver the original to the above address
4. You can provide back-up materials on a maximum of three 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of paper

1. We will review the grant application and contact you
2. If your association is awarded a grant you must:
   • Sign a maintenance agreement with the County agreeing to:
     • water
     • fertilize
     • prune
     • provide other care to ensure the survival to the trees and shrubbery planted through this program
   • Sign a Letter of Understanding between the applicant and the Office of Neighborhood Relations
   • Get a technical review and permit for road right-of-way plantings
   • You must present a copy of this permit before signing the Letter of Understanding
   • Submit a report, including before and after photographs, and an inventory of tree and other plantings with a description of their condition to the Office of Neighborhood Relations (ONR) on completion of the plantings, and annually thereafter for two years
   • Identify a specific area that shows evidence of local resident involvement and concurrence
3. We will provide monitoring report forms
4. Before payment is issued, you must:
• Have the the Letter of Understanding executed
• Provide documentation of plan approval by the County Forester
• ONR Staff will coordinate plan approval with the County Forester
5. Payment options are:
• Reimbursement by the County for association expenditures
• Issuance of a Purchase Order to a vendor
• Payment to a vendor with a County Purchasing Card
6. Submit before and after photos, a report, and an inventory of the tree and other plantings, with documentation of their condition to ONR upon completion of the project, and annually for two years after that
7. We will consider tree survival success and the transmittal of required monitoring reports for the awarded grant when determining eligibility for subsequent mini-grant application requests