GLO Grants Harris County 1-Year Deadline Extension on All Harvey Grants
9/28/26 – This morning, Dr. Dawn Buckingham, Texas General Land Office (GLO) Commissioner, announced a one-year deadline extension to finish projects that use Community Development Block Grant Funds for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR and -MIT) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The GLO administers HUD grants in Texas. And the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) was in danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars because of delays on CDBG-DR projects, which had a rapidly approaching February 28, 2027, deadline.
Potential Loss of Funding Led to Shake-up at HCFCD
Because of those delays, former HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen resigned under pressure after the June 11, 2026, Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting. At that meeting, Commissioners discussed her continued employment in executive session.
Commissioners then appointed a new HCFCD executive director, Marcus Stuckett on 6/25/26 to replace Petersen. Stuckett previously worked at HCFCD as Director of Engineering. So, he was familiar with projects in the 2018 flood bond. And ever since, he has reportedly been scrambling to accelerate CDBG work, so he can bill as much as possible and minimize or eliminate the potential loss of funds.
The HUD/GLO extension will help Stuckett complete projects without resorting to a complicated billing plan hatched by his predecessor.
Ditching a Complicated “Swap Billing” Plan
Petersen’s plan involved applying CDBG monies for completed Mitigation projects to meet CDBG-DR billing requirements, and thereby minimize the loss of funding.
However, putting everything in one big, billing bucket and swapping funds between programs created a compliance-tracking nightmare. The extension will let HCFCD finish projects and let GLO close out them out in a more orderly manner. The plan to “swap” billing is now dead.
Harris County must now finish the projects according to the original, contractual plan.
No More Extensions
The deadline extension also comes with a warning to Harris County. No more extensions will be forthcoming. A GLO spokesperson emphasized, “People MUST cross the finish line with these projects before the deadline. There will be NO MORE EXTENSIONS.”
The extension also requires sub-recipients such as HCFCD with multiple projects to document the need for a deadline extension on each.
“Failure to comply with all regulations and deadlines can result in remaining funding being withheld. It could also result in expended funding being recaptured.”
GLO Press Release
HUD approved this deadline extension based on the GLO’s strong track record of managing DR funds.
This one-time extension will apply to more than $1.1 billion in disaster recovery and mitigation project funding allocated to Harris County, but…
Buckingham’s Warning to Harris County: “Grave Concerns”
Commissioner Buckingham wrote a strongly worded letter to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and County Commissioners expressing grave concerns she had about the County’s performance with CDBG funds dating back to 2021.
“As I’ve said before, Harris County needs shovels, not scapegoats.”
GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in letter to Harris County Officials
Separately, in a video released today, Buckingham said, “The GLO has committed millions of our own agency funds, along with nearly a thousand meetings and countless hours of staff time to support the Harris County Flood Control District.
“Flood Control proposed a complicated and administratively burdensome plan in May. The GLO has done everything in our power to make this plan work. Unfortunately, more than four months later, Harris County has failed to provide the information necessary for HUD’s approval and almost no additional progress has been made on these time sensitive projects.
“With the additional year now available, the projects will proceed under their original proposals using the disaster recovery funds I allocated to Harris County more than three years ago.
“The county now has one additional year to complete the projects, I pray the projects get completed, because if they do not the Harris County flood victims are the ones who suffer. If Harris County fails to meet the new benchmarks, the GLO will be forced to swiftly reallocate the unused balance to shovel-ready projects. Our priority will remain benefiting Harris County residents.”
Extension Requirements
This deadline extension applies to all CDBG programs in all parts of the state. Here’s how it affects three Harris County programs.
Harris County Housing & Community Development CDBG-MIT
From August 31, 2027, to August 31, 2028.
Harris County Flood Control District CDBG-MIT
From March 31, 2028, to March 31, 2029.
Harris County Flood Control District CDBG-DR
From February 28, 2027, to February 28, 2028.
The deadline extension will also be available for existing 2017 Hurricane Harvey Local Buyout and Acquisition Program contracts as well as existing mitigation contracts (2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 funded).
The County will need to submit requests documenting the need for more time and that the additional time will be sufficient to complete the projects. To remain compliant with federal regulations, timelines, and the terms of the GLO’s grant agreement with HUD.
The extension also does not include additional administrative funding. Nor does it allow the addition of “new work.” Adding to project scope will not be allowed when the funding was awarded through a competitive process as it changes the application under which it was scored and awarded.
For More Information
To learn more about the GLO’s disaster recovery and mitigation grants, visit recovery.texas.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2027
3317 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
