GLO Releases Status of Disaster-Relief, Flood-Mitigation Applications

2/28/25 – Today, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the status of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster-relief and flood-mitigation applications from Harris County’s Flood Control District and Housing & Community Development Department.

The grant applications cover almost $1.1 billion dollars in aid for Harris County relating to Hurricane Harvey alone, which the GLO manages for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Today’s updates cover the status of more than 60 projects. A little more than half have already been approved. Twenty-one are still in review. And eight still have not been submitted yet.

Separately, yesterday Harris County Commissioners adopted three resolutions to limit financial exposure during the Federal grant funding freeze.

Let’s look at the disaster-relief and flood-mitigation applications first, then the issue of financial exposure.

HCFCD Disaster Relief Projects

Of the 11 disaster relief projects published by Flood Control, the GLO has already approved 10. Flood Control has not yet submitted the application for the Genoa Red Bluff Regional Stormwater Detention Basin.

All projects in this list total approximately $269 million.

For descriptions of each project above, click here.

HCFCD Flood-Mitigation Projects

HCFCD is submitting 18 projects in the flood-mitigation category. Of those, the GLO has started reviewing 16. HCFCD has yet to submit two.

The 16 projects submitted to date total approximately $510 million out of $541,847,826 allocated for this category.

Only one project below – Taylor Gully/Woodridge – is in the Kingwood Area.

For descriptions of each project, click here.

For a printable PDF of these two lists, click here.

Housing and Community Development Mitigation and Planning

Harris County’s Housing & Community Development Department also has projects in two categories: mitigation and planning.

Mitigation includes nine projects totaling approximately $150 million. GLO has already approved all except for two still in review.

HC H&CD has already issued notices of intent to release funds for approved projects above.

Housing & Community Development has also requested money for 23 planning studies. The 18 approved or still in review total $10.775 million.

For a printable PDF of these two lists, click here.

County Making Contingency Plans for Federal Grant Funding Freeze

A large portion of the Special Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting yesterday concerned planning for uncertainties regarding the federal grant funding freeze. Specifically on the agenda:

Item 11 tried to limit the County’s financial exposure in case projects were started, but promised funding did not come through on the back end.
Item 164 requested HCFCD to provide an update on every 2018 flood-bond project (completed, in progress, and not yet started). Commissioners requested dollars expended to date by life cycle stages, locations and subprojects. They also requested a listing of how all projects scored and ranked on the County’s Equity Prioritization Framework.

Those two items alone consumed two hours.

Re: Item 11, Commissioners adopted three motions unanimously:

Motion 1 directed OMB to maintain a maximum monthly average of $100 million in outstanding receivables relating to federal grants and to update commissioners court monthly on balances.
Motion 2 directed OCA, OMB, the County’s Strategic Planning Committee, and impacted departments to make recommendations for dealing with at-risk, federally funded programs.
Motion 3 allowed payment of grant-funded invoices if federal funding is available.

The motions govern management of invoice payments related to grants and establish protocols for prioritizing grant programs.

Rationale Behind Motions in Item 11

Watch the discussion of Item 11 in this video of yesterday’s Special Commissioners Court Meeting. Make sure you click on the segment labeled “Departments 2 of 2.” The discussion starts at 11:02 A.M.

The commissioners want to prevent a significant impact on cash flow and future budget cycles. Their plan includes setting aside general funds and cooperating with the Strategic Planning Committee to identify priority grants.

Additionally, there are strategies to identify at-risk grants, limit financial exposure, and ensure that ongoing expenditures are more closely aligned with the likelihood of reimbursement.

Motion 3 would only allow payment of project/program related invoices if reimbursement seems likely.

The measures apply to all federal grants, not just those listed above. For instance, ARPA funding expires next year and will affect many county employees.

The county averages about $70 million in liabilities every month related to payment of grant invoices (for which the Federal government later reimburses the county). The $100 million limit in Motion 1 reflects an amount that the county cannot afford if the Feds withhold payment.

For the time being, everyone is proceeding as though the funding appropriated by Congress will come through.

Most of those I interviewed for this article believe the President does not have the authority to override laws passed by Congress with executive orders. However, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) budget cuts could have the impact of hamstringing other departments, such as HUD.

For instance, I talked to two government officials on the condition of anonymity who discussed rumors of staffing cuts greater than 80% at HUD. That could affect reimbursement for tens of billion of dollars in CDBG funds nationwide, because the Department might not have the personnel to process reimbursements.

That could affect most of the disaster-relief and flood-mitigation applications above. But more on that at a future date when and if the rumors become real.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/28/25

2740 Days since Hurricane Harvey