Harris County leaders learn they’re $1.3B short to finish all 2018 flood bond projects

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — After Hurricane Harvey, Harris County voters approved spending $2.5 billion on a bond for flood projects. Years later, leaders said it’s nowhere near enough money, and the promised projects may not happen.

The flood control district said Hurricane Harvey flooded 120,000 structures across the county in 2017. After the storm, county leaders went to voters to fund mitigation projects.

They asked for $2.5 billion to tackle more than 180 areas. On Thursday, after months of asking, commissioners received an update on the projects and shared that the original bond amount should have been higher.

“There was never enough money to begin with,” Commissioner Adrian Garcia said.

During commissioners’ court, the flood control district director told leaders that they’re $1.3 billion short. They say the pandemic and inflation impacted the cost.

Because of this, they recommended that only the highest priority project areas move forward. County documents show there are 31 of those.

There are 111 project areas, however, that fall into other categories and haven’t been finished, and could be in jeopardy. Commissioner Rodney Ellis said it’s important to tackle those higher-need areas.

“If you don’t take into account factors like how many people flooded, how often do they flood, can they get out of a neighborhood if it’s flooded,” Ellis said. “That’s just common sense.”

However, Commissioner Tom Ramsey voted against funding only one category of projects. He said the scoring includes demographics that shouldn’t be factored into flooding projects.

“It’s not right for a person to flood in the Memorial Day flood, in the Tax Day flood, in the Ike flood, in the Harvey flood, in the Beryl flood,” Ramsey said. “It’s not right!”

In order to fund the remaining projects commissioners say they may need to ask taxpayers for more money.

“Is it something that voters are going to be happy to hear? Of course not,” Judge Lina Hidalgo said. “I think there have been mistakes made in terms of how much money was put forth from the bond, how the bond was presented, how quickly we have not moved.”

Commissioners asked the flood control district to return in September to update them as they grapple with what projects they may have to cut. They also asked the agency to create a dashboard so neighbors can track projects.

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