3/1/25 – At the 2/27/25 Harris County Special Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners spent more than an hour discussing the need for a 2018 Flood-Bond update to help deal with a potential billion-dollar funding shortfall.
Previous Flood Control District department heads published a flood-bond update monthly. But the frequency has fallen to annually under the current department head as activity slowed and inflation soared.
Harris County Commissioners Court 69 minute discussion on need for bond update.
Commissioners Openly Concede Funding Shortfall
Against that backdrop, Commissioners and the County Judge openly conceded that all promised bond projects will not get done because of a lack of money. That’s despite assurances on the Flood Control District website that all will get done.
However, discussion made it clear that commissioners worry whether projects in their precincts will end up on the chopping block. They also worry whether the Flood Control District has followed the Equity Prioritization Frameworks adopted by Commissioners Court.
Reasons for Concerns
The request for an update came as commissioners fretted about the potential cancellation of projects associated with $1.1 billion allocated to Harris County from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office.
Earlier in the meeting , Commissioners had voted on financial strategies designed to limit the County’s financial exposure in case HUD funding fell through. (See previous post about Item 11),
Thirty-five percent inflation in the non-residential construction sector since the beginning of the bond has also affected the Flood Control District’s purchasing power.
Finally, an unexplained four-year slowdown in activity at the Flood Control District also has commissioners concerned. The slowdown continually decreases purchasing power over time by delaying projects as inflation builds.
Already, the current activity level in dollars adjusted for inflation is lower than before voters passed the 2018 bond.
Analysis of data from HCFCD and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
See below.
HCFCD spending in 2024 roughly equaled 2017 spending after adjustment for inflation.
To complicate matters, the Flood Control District’s website “Active Projects” Page no longer works and hasn’t for months. The District blames it on a problem with their geographic information systems. That affects an interactive map.
But the page also featured a text-based list of active projects and their locations. That has also disappeared with no explanation. And a Harris County source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me Flood Control has not made an effort to fix the page/map.
Getting up-to-date information out of the Flood Control District has definitely become more difficult. And not just for journalists. Clearly that has commissioners worried, too.
Commissioners Grill HCFCD Head for More Than Hour
Commissioners could have conveyed the update request in a simple memo. Instead they vented their frustrations for one hour and nine minutes. At one point, Adrian Garcia even accused fellow Democrat Rodney Ellis of filibustering!
Commissioners feared many projects would not be completed. Each explained why he/she wasn’t getting a fair share.
Ellis Request
Rodney Ellis worried whether the District was following his Equity Prioritization Framework. He requested that the update include:
Prioritization scores for each project.
A clear demonstration of how the bond prioritization framework is being implemented and tracked
An explanation of the prioritization of planning, design, constructing and funding of flood-bond projects.
Financial analysis showing all completed projects and sub-projects.
Lists of all:
Projects and sub-projects under construction and awaiting funding.
Committed partnership agreements.
Signed Inter-local Agreements (ILAs).
ILA commitments still in discussion.
Remaining available funds.
He emphasized that he “didn’t want to wait until all the money is gone.” He added…
“I know there’s not enough money to do all the projects we talked about and everybody else knows it. I’m just crazy enough to say it in public.”
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis
Ramsey Concerns
Tom Ramsey worried about $257 million in subdivision drainage projects taken out of his budget. He pointed out that he has 2-3X the number of road miles to maintain compared to other precincts. Yet he has the smallest percentage of the total budget.
Ramsey concluded, “Come back in a way that we can live up to the commitment that we made to the voters in 2018. Right now, we’re struggling to make that happen.”
Garcia Concerns
Adrian Garcia complained about heavy trucks tearing up the roads in his highly industrialized precinct. He also worried about getting enough dollars to complete projects in his precinct.
Briones Concerns
Lesley Briones also worried about getting a fair share of dollars for projects in her precinct. Most of it leaned Republican before redistricting. Without saying it, she implied that the area had been penalized for the way it leaned politicly. She added, “I personally will not feel comfortable going out for a future bond if we haven’t delivered on the 2018 bond.”
Hidalgo: “Is There a Billion Dollars Sitting Somewhere?”
Judge Lina Hidalgo said she remained committed to “lifting up folks that had historically been left behind.” Then she asked, “Has that been achieved to any degree? To what extent have we achieved that?”
“We know we don’t have enough money. What are we going to do, folks?”
Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge, during discussion of Item 164 on 2/27/25.
She then discussed pausing non-equity projects and redirecting money to equity projects.
“The other option … go to the voters. I’m not hearing an appetite for that, so I just don’t understand how we solve this without additional money. So my final question, ‘Is there $1 billion sitting somewhere?'”
“It would just be sad to find out that the [projects] not completed rank higher on prioritization.”
Equity Wins Again
In the end, Commissioners Court requested a recommendation from the Director of Flood Control that would maximize the goal of finishing projects according to the equity prioritization framework, with highest scoring projects finishing first.
Flood Control agreed to present the analysis on May 22. This has the potential to slow Flood Control’s work even more.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/2/25
2742 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CC-2.27.25.jpg?fit=1100%2C554&ssl=15541100adminadmin2025-03-02 18:20:322025-03-03 11:01:39Harris County Commissioners Demand Flood-Bond Project Update
Between Pearl Harbor and the surrender of Japan, 1349 days elapsed. But more than twice that number of days have elapsed since Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Battleship Arizona, December 7, 1941. Photo courtesy of National Park Service.
At 1349 Days after Harvey, I wrote a post entitled “It’s Official: Harvey Flood Mitigation Is Taking Longer than World War II.” The bittersweet post expressed disappointment about the lack of progress … tempered with hope for the future. But sadly, many of the observations I made then are true today. We still:
Are dredging the mouth of the San Jacinto West Fork, which backed water up into thousands of homes and businesses.
Are fighting with each other over which neighborhoods get their flood-mitigation projects started first.
Have not turned one shovel of dirt at any of the upstream sites identified for stormwater detention in the San Jacinto River Basin Master Drainage Plan.
Bush provided numerous recommendations to cut red tape. But sadly, few, if any, have been implemented.
Failure to Prepare is Preparing to Fail
During the last Harris County Commissioner’s Court Meeting, we witnessed Commissioners struggling with this slow-motion disaster that has become a second disaster in itself.
They even spent a full hour requesting an update from HCFCD on the status of bond projects. Those updates used to be a regular monthly report.
Failure to prepare for flooding that you know will come is an invitation to heartbreak and misery. When the next flood happens, the damage will be self-inflicted.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/1/25
2741 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/20210507-Arizona.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=18011200adminadmin2025-03-01 18:14:212025-03-01 18:52:31We Won World War II in Half the Time That It’s Taking to Start Harvey Flood-Mitigation Projects
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.
Provided by GLO on 2/28/25
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 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.
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
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/HCFCD-Mit-e1740797936379.png?fit=1100%2C718&ssl=17181100adminadmin2025-02-28 21:09:202025-02-28 22:45:13GLO Releases Status of Disaster-Relief, Flood-Mitigation Applications
Harris County Commissioners Demand Flood-Bond Project Update
3/1/25 – At the 2/27/25 Harris County Special Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners spent more than an hour discussing the need for a 2018 Flood-Bond update to help deal with a potential billion-dollar funding shortfall.
Previous Flood Control District department heads published a flood-bond update monthly. But the frequency has fallen to annually under the current department head as activity slowed and inflation soared.
Commissioners Openly Concede Funding Shortfall
Against that backdrop, Commissioners and the County Judge openly conceded that all promised bond projects will not get done because of a lack of money. That’s despite assurances on the Flood Control District website that all will get done.
However, discussion made it clear that commissioners worry whether projects in their precincts will end up on the chopping block. They also worry whether the Flood Control District has followed the Equity Prioritization Frameworks adopted by Commissioners Court.
Reasons for Concerns
The request for an update came as commissioners fretted about the potential cancellation of projects associated with $1.1 billion allocated to Harris County from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office.
Earlier in the meeting , Commissioners had voted on financial strategies designed to limit the County’s financial exposure in case HUD funding fell through. (See previous post about Item 11),
Thirty-five percent inflation in the non-residential construction sector since the beginning of the bond has also affected the Flood Control District’s purchasing power.
Finally, an unexplained four-year slowdown in activity at the Flood Control District also has commissioners concerned. The slowdown continually decreases purchasing power over time by delaying projects as inflation builds.
See below.
To complicate matters, the Flood Control District’s website “Active Projects” Page no longer works and hasn’t for months. The District blames it on a problem with their geographic information systems. That affects an interactive map.
But the page also featured a text-based list of active projects and their locations. That has also disappeared with no explanation. And a Harris County source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me Flood Control has not made an effort to fix the page/map.
Getting up-to-date information out of the Flood Control District has definitely become more difficult. And not just for journalists. Clearly that has commissioners worried, too.
Commissioners Grill HCFCD Head for More Than Hour
Commissioners could have conveyed the update request in a simple memo. Instead they vented their frustrations for one hour and nine minutes. At one point, Adrian Garcia even accused fellow Democrat Rodney Ellis of filibustering!
See the Commissioner’s Court Video from the 2/28/25 meeting. Click on Departments 2 or 2 and scroll to the discussion of Item 164 at 3:33. Commissioner Ellis kicks off the discussion.
Commissioners feared many projects would not be completed. Each explained why he/she wasn’t getting a fair share.
Ellis Request
Rodney Ellis worried whether the District was following his Equity Prioritization Framework. He requested that the update include:
He emphasized that he “didn’t want to wait until all the money is gone.” He added…
Ramsey Concerns
Tom Ramsey worried about $257 million in subdivision drainage projects taken out of his budget. He pointed out that he has 2-3X the number of road miles to maintain compared to other precincts. Yet he has the smallest percentage of the total budget.
Ramsey concluded, “Come back in a way that we can live up to the commitment that we made to the voters in 2018. Right now, we’re struggling to make that happen.”
Garcia Concerns
Adrian Garcia complained about heavy trucks tearing up the roads in his highly industrialized precinct. He also worried about getting enough dollars to complete projects in his precinct.
Briones Concerns
Lesley Briones also worried about getting a fair share of dollars for projects in her precinct. Most of it leaned Republican before redistricting. Without saying it, she implied that the area had been penalized for the way it leaned politicly. She added, “I personally will not feel comfortable going out for a future bond if we haven’t delivered on the 2018 bond.”
Hidalgo: “Is There a Billion Dollars Sitting Somewhere?”
Judge Lina Hidalgo said she remained committed to “lifting up folks that had historically been left behind.” Then she asked, “Has that been achieved to any degree? To what extent have we achieved that?”
She then discussed pausing non-equity projects and redirecting money to equity projects.
“The other option … go to the voters. I’m not hearing an appetite for that, so I just don’t understand how we solve this without additional money. So my final question, ‘Is there $1 billion sitting somewhere?'”
“It would just be sad to find out that the [projects] not completed rank higher on prioritization.”
Equity Wins Again
In the end, Commissioners Court requested a recommendation from the Director of Flood Control that would maximize the goal of finishing projects according to the equity prioritization framework, with highest scoring projects finishing first.
Flood Control agreed to present the analysis on May 22. This has the potential to slow Flood Control’s work even more.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/2/25
2742 Days since Hurricane Harvey
We Won World War II in Half the Time That It’s Taking to Start Harvey Flood-Mitigation Projects
3/1/25 – More than 60 flood-mitigation and disaster-relief projects identified after Hurricane Harvey have yet to begin. We won World War II in half that time.
Between Pearl Harbor and the surrender of Japan, 1349 days elapsed. But more than twice that number of days have elapsed since Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
At 1349 Days after Harvey, I wrote a post entitled “It’s Official: Harvey Flood Mitigation Is Taking Longer than World War II.” The bittersweet post expressed disappointment about the lack of progress … tempered with hope for the future. But sadly, many of the observations I made then are true today. We still:
Around the time of my first World War II post, I also tried to understand why mitigation took so long. See these posts:
Bush provided numerous recommendations to cut red tape. But sadly, few, if any, have been implemented.
Failure to Prepare is Preparing to Fail
During the last Harris County Commissioner’s Court Meeting, we witnessed Commissioners struggling with this slow-motion disaster that has become a second disaster in itself.
They even spent a full hour requesting an update from HCFCD on the status of bond projects. Those updates used to be a regular monthly report.
Failure to prepare for flooding that you know will come is an invitation to heartbreak and misery. When the next flood happens, the damage will be self-inflicted.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/1/25
2741 Days since Hurricane Harvey
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:
Those two items alone consumed two hours.
Re: Item 11, Commissioners adopted three motions unanimously:
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