Department: County Judge
Department Head/Elected Official: Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCAType of Request: Supplemental
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by the County Judge for discussion and possible action directing the Housing and Community Development Department to work with the Office of Management and Budget and Office of County Administration to ensure there is a plan for sufficient funding in FY 2025 to complete Buyout and Relocations for the Mandatory Buyout Program.
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Background and Discussion:
Harris County’s Mandatory Buyout Program buys residents and businesses out of areas with a history of severe, repetitive flooding and assists residents with relocation to comparable housing of their choice. The Program includes 7 areas that are “hopelessly deep” in the floodplain, meaning areas that have experienced at least 4+ feet of flooding in past events for which there is no flood improvement project that could significantly reduce flood risk.
Relocation benefits for affected residents are provided according to the guidelines of the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act (URA) or the County’s SAFE Initiative, which Commissioners Court approved to support individuals who are not eligible for federal benefits.
When the SAFE Initiative was created in 2020, Commissioners Court initially approved $1.5M in funding. On 6/27/2023, Commissioners Court allocated an additional $7,706,250 to the SAFE Initiative to achieve parity with federal funding levels. However, the Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) did not draw down all of these funds immediately after in Fiscal Year 2023 because many affected households were in earlier stages of the buyout process, such as negotiating the sales of their original properties. To allow HCD to continue utilizing program funding through Fiscal Year 2024, Commissioners Court approved a transfer of $7.0M in supplemental budget (i.e. the remaining funding) on 1/30/2024.
HCD recently identified additional funding through cost savings from other programs that could be reallocated to the SAFE Initiative to ensure sufficient funding for the remaining residents who are still in the process of relocating and to allow greater flexibility with the timeline. To ensure these residents have access to the relocation benefits for which they are eligible, program funding for Fiscal Year 2025 for the SAFE Initiative must be clearly delineated.
Note: The federally funded Mandatory Buyout program has a deadline of February 2026 to conclude buyouts and relocations. HCD has submitted a service enhancement request related to this funding as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 planning process.
Expected Impact: Having a clear funding allocation for Fiscal Year 2025 will help ensure that remaining residents participating in the SAFE Initiative receive the full benefit levels for which they qualify.
Alternative Options: N/A
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
X Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
X Flooding
_ Environment
X Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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1/30/2024 |
41 |
For approval of proposed supplemental budget appropriations across multiple departments. |
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6/27/2023 |
159 |
To increase the allocation for SAFE benefits by $7,706,250 to achieve parity with federal funding levels. |
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10/27/2020 |
V.3 |
Harris County shall provide initial funding to Harris County Community Services Department in the Amount of One-Million, Five-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00) to Augment Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Funds to Better Ensure an Equitable Relocation Benefit to Those Not Eligible, or who are only Partially Eligible, for Relocation Benefits Under the Uniform Relocation Act. Harris County Budget Management Department shall budget for and transfer those funds, as needed, to the Community Services Department. |
Location: N/A
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Anticipated Court Date: August 27, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Madeline Steck, Policy Advisor, County Judge’s Office
Attachments (if applicable): N/A