On August 25, 2017, the President declared a major disaster, Texas Hurricane Harvey DR-4332, for the State of Texas, which initiated the process of delivering federal disaster recovery funds to Texas.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds are typically the largest amount of recovery assistance available to communities following federally-declared natural disasters. These funds originate through an appropriation by Congress and then flow through HUD to the affected states and ultimately to local governments. 

CDBG-DR funds provide much-needed assistance to address unmet housing needs for individuals and non-housing needs (typically infrastructure) for local governments. Expenditure of these funds must meet one of three national objectives: 1) urgent need; 2) addressing slum and blight; and, 3) serving low to moderate income beneficiaries. Congress determines the percentage of funds that must benefit low to moderate beneficiaries.

On November 17, 2017, HUD announced an initial CDBG-DR allocation of $5.024 billion to Texas. The Texas General Land Office (GLO) will administer the program and is developing a State-level Action Plan which further allocates funds across the impacted area of the State at the COG-level. The next step will be for H-GAC to develop a Method of Distribution that determines the amount of funds available to local governments across the H-GAC region for infrastructure projects and housing repair/replacement. The H-GAC Board will be regularly involved in the shaping of the Method of Distribution.

Several aspects of the process remain unknown and will be determined by HUD and the GLO. Examples include the percentage of funding directed to serve low-moderate income (LMI) beneficiaries, the split between housing and non-housing funds, and funding amounts for rental properties and public housing.

We have begun preliminary work on the Method of Distribution and are familiar with the process from past hurricane recovery events. Our initial concept is to determine relative shares (percentages) of housing funds at the county level and for the City of Houston (due to degree of impact). The housing fund shares will be based on FEMA housing damage data, available across the region, and adjusted for a) severity of damage, and b) the amount of LMI beneficiaries within each county’s (and City of Houston’s) population.  For example, a home with heavy damage counts for more of a share than a lightly damaged home. This process is presented as a concept in Table A, (Attached).

GLO previously required H-GAC to allocate non-housing (infrastructure funds down to the city and county level, and housing allocations at the county level. H-GAC proposes an allocation formula based on consistent data that documents damage and need, and covers the entire 13-county region. In the case of non-housing (infrastructure) data, the most comprehensive source is information from the Governor’s Office Rebuild Texas program regarding infrastructure needs. Additional FEMA data may become available as the process moves forward. The proposed process for allocating shares of non-housing funds is to calculate relative shares of project funds within the H-GAC region delineated in the report from the Governor’s Office and applying the relative percentage to determine shares. This process is presented as a concept  in Table B, (Attached). 

The Method of Distribution process will include a series of public hearings, an advertised public comment period, and consideration by the H-GAC Board of Directors. After the Method of Distribution is approved by the H-GAC Board of Directors, communities eligible to receive infrastructure funding will work directly with GLO to develop and fund eligible infrastructure projects. With regards to housing, funds are typically limited to serve low to moderate income households, require a complex eligibility process, and result in the delivery of housing repairs or reconstruction of damage to homes. Households do not receive cash as part of this program.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Texas General Land Office

No, amends H-GAC Budget

Information only. (Staff Contact: Chuck Wemple)