CDBG-MIT Grant Applications

1. Which projects were submitted by the Flood Control District and Harris County?
   • Between the Flood Control District and Harris County, we submitted a total of 9 applications requesting $915 million in federal funding assistance.
   • Those nine applications included 52 different individual projects around the county, ranging from subdivision drainage improvements to large channel and stormwater detention basin projects.
   • All projects were shown to reduce flooding and flood risk to Harris County residents. 
2. Did the Flood Control District receive any grant awards?
   • The Texas General Land Office (GLO) has awarded more than $1 billion in CDBG-MIT grant funding to entities across the state of Texas.
   • Harris County received notification of award for a single $10 million project in the Carpenters Bayou watershed for drainage improvements in the Cloverleaf area.
3. What do we need to do going forward, now that we know we did not win an award in Round 1?
   • There is still another $1 billion that has not yet been awarded. GLO has indicated a willingness to work with the County and Flood Control District to address and (hopefully) correct issues with their scoring criteria that resulted in receiving no awards.
   • These conversations also include the City of Houston to ensure our region is represented appropriately.
4. What are the next steps now that funding was not received? How can I help?
   • The Flood Control District, along with Harris County and the City of Houston, will continue to have direct conversations with key officials at GLO, HUD, the Harris County congressional delegation and other entities about this funding.
   • If local residents and advocacy groups would like to join the conversation, we encourage you to reach out to your elected officials in support of additional funding for flood risk mitigation in Harris County.
5. Were our applications or projects flawed?
   • All projects submitted have technical (engineering) merit and will reduce flooding risks for tens of thousands of people in Harris County.
   • The GLO’s explanation as to why we were not selected was the scores the projects received compared to other applications. Under the GLO’s scoring system, nearly half of all points our applications failed to secure came from two categories: “Per Capita Market Value” (PCMV) and Project Impact. Both of these categories scored well below the awarded averages, but have nothing to do with the actual projects.
   • The PCMV score was based on Harris County’s property tax base and ability to support recovery activities. It was not reflective of the technical merit of the projects.
   • The Project Impact scoring was structured in a way that slanted scoring to benefit low population areas. Because the scoring was largely based on countywide population levels, there was very little that could have been done to significantly boost scoring in this category.
6. What context can this be viewed relative to Hurricane Harvey compared to the rest of the state?
   • By all rights, the funding made available to the State of Texas would not be there were it not for the damages sustained in Harris County. Many estimates show Harris County sustained as much as 40-50 percent of the statewide damages during Hurricane Harvey.
   • When Congress appropriated $5 billion to the State of Texas for Housing Recovery, nearly half of the funding was carved out to Harris County and the City of Houston, further indication of the fact that the majority of damages sustained happened in our county.
   • Without mitigation funds, the very same homes rebuilt using dollars HUD following Hurricane Harvey are left vulnerable to future flooding events.
   • The mitigation funds we are seeking would support drainage projects near and within neighborhoods that receive funding for unmet housing needs. These critical infrastructure projects, once implemented, will reduce the risk of flooding for many homes impacted by Hurricane Harvey and make them more resilient to future storm events.
   • These projects will also help protect the nearly $2 billion in investments being made today in the form of home rebuilding and rehabilitation by the City of Houston and Harris County, as our infrastructure serves both of these entities as well as 33 other municipalities.

In addition to the applications that will be submitted by the Flood Control District, other local entities are also applying for CDBG-MIT funding. Several of the Harris County-led partnership applications include Flood Control District projects. More information about these applications is available on Harris County's website at www.harrisrecovery.org/cdbg-mitigation. Residents are encouraged to submit comments and questions.