Harris County could lose a share of $322 million in Hurricane Harvey flood grants. The Texas General Land Office (GLO) rejected the county's proposal to swap stalled projects, citing the Harris County Flood Control District's "repeated inability to fully execute promised projects."
GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham sent the warning in an Oct. 14 letter to the county, one day before Commissioners Court was scheduled to hear an update on 11 disaster recovery projects funded by federal Community Development Block Grant money. That update never happened.
Spring and other unincorporated Harris County communities depend on the flood control district for drainage and flood protection. The grant money at stake funds large-scale flood risk reduction work across the county.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia pulled the presentation from the Oct. 15 agenda, saying the flood control district had not provided enough detail.
"I still have not gotten that full information from the executive director," Garcia told ABC13. "So, I didn't think we were ready for that conversation yet."
The executive director Garcia referenced is Marcus Stuckett, who took over the flood control district in June after former Director Tina Peterson resigned under scrutiny from the court over missed deadlines, according to Community Impact.
The county received the $322 million in grant money in October 2023. The original spending deadline was February 2027, but the GLO extended it by one year on Sept. 28.
Disaster recovery projects now must be completed by Feb. 28, 2028. Flood mitigation projects have until March 31, 2029.
Even with the extension, Stuckett told the GLO in an Oct. 2 letter that roughly $113 million of the disaster recovery funds would remain unallocated because construction bids came in lower than original estimates, Reduce Flooding reported. He proposed shifting other projects into the disaster recovery budget to use the surplus.
Buckingham's Oct. 14 reply shut that down. She wrote that the county had failed to provide documentation it promised "months ago" about the proposed swaps and that the GLO "cannot risk funds lapsing back to HUD because of Harris County's eventual failure to complete these projects."
GLO spokesperson Brittany Eck said in an Oct. 18 statement that the flood control district "has only provided vague ideas and undefined concepts" over the past six months. Eck added that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development "demands specifics about complete projects that result in a defined benefit to a defined population by a defined deadline."
Buckingham has said her intent is for the full $322 million to benefit Harris County residents. But if the flood control district cannot finish projects before the federal deadline, the GLO said it may have to redirect the money to other eligible projects before time runs out.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at an Oct. 15 press conference that projects are moving faster under Stuckett, though not as quickly as she would like. She said she is hopeful the county will not have to return any money.
Stuckett said in an Oct. 19 statement that favorable construction bids are allowing the district to deliver projects "more cost-effectively" and that all projects will maintain their original scope. He said the district "remains on track for completion under the extension."
Commissioner Tom Ramsey, after an Oct. 16 meeting with federal, state and local officials on regional flood mitigation, told Community Impact that "time becomes the challenge" with the unallocated funds.
The flood control district's presentation to Commissioners Court has been rescheduled for Nov. 12.
