REFERENDUM: Fate of broad plan would fall on Harvey anniversary

Harris County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to seek a special election on Aug. 25 for what likely will be a multibillion-dollar bond package that, if approved by voters, would be the largest local investment in the region’s flood control system after Hurricane Harvey.

The move comes a month before the start of the 2018 hurricane season and more than seven months after the epic storm, with the election timed to coincide with Harvey’s one-year anniversary.

County officials have spent months wrangling over when best to schedule the election, lest the measure fail and scuttle efforts to overhaul the area’s flood control efforts after one of the biggest rain

storms in U.S. history.

“Why August 25?” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said. “It’s the oneyear anniversary of Harvey. I don’t think we want to go a year and not be able to say we’re doing something. People who care about mitigation, resilience, flood control, they’ll be energized and they’ll want to go out. Will there be somebody who wants to stand in the face of what we went through during Harvey and say ‘I want to be against it’? I kind of dare them to do it.”

It is not clear yet what the bond referendum will include. The court on Tuesday floated a $2.5 billion price tag — a number that could change as a priority list of flood control projects emerges. Emmett said the number of projects would be in the “hundreds” and likely would include the buy-out of all of the county’s high-priority areas at highest-risk of flooding, approximately 5,500 properties.

A huge chunk of funds, between $500 and $700 million officials estimate, could go toward local matches for federal grants and projects. A match could be required for the completion of four bayou widening and straightening projects underway with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along Hunting, White Oak, Brays Bayou and Clear Creek. Bayou engineering projects on Halls and Greens Bayou — some of the areas in the county most vulnerable to flooding — also likely would be targeted.

Emmett said all of the county’s 22 watersheds would see investment.

The bond funds also could help finance the construction of an oft-discussed third reservoir northwest of the city to contain storm water from Cypress Creek.

“We have been working on a list of potential projects to both cover what we see as local match opportunities to leverage federal dollars, as well as other projects that may not qualify for federal dollars,” Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Russ Poppe said.

What repeatedly has been billed as a “no-brainer” response to Harvey, however, drew concern from some members of Commissioners Court Tuesday, who warned that the election likely would be the county’s only shot at getting voters’ approval and could face steep political hurdles. A Rice University survey last year found that less than 10 percent of Houston region residents suffered serious damage to their homes during Harvey, and almost 49 percent of those surveyed did not support an increase in property taxes to pay for flood control projects.

In addition, the bond measure almost certainly will require a property tax increase. According to an estimate from the county budget office, if $2.5 billion in bonds are issued over 15 years, the average singlefamily home owner would pay an additional $4.71 in property taxes per year in the first year, eventually rising to $58.86 in 2034.

“The biggest challenge is, one, there’s a group of people that are against increasing taxes,” said environmental attorney Jim Blackburn, who is pushing for transparency in the bond formulation process and supports the measure. “We have got to zero-out that group that’s coming in for sure.”

Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis raised concerns about voter turnout during a summer election and instead called for it to be held during the November midterms, when more voters are guaranteed to be at the polls.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said they initially leaned toward a November bond election, but were persuaded by Emmett to support the earlier date.

Despite his reservations, Ellis initially cast the sole vote against the Aug. 25 date, but later changed his vote after pleas from his colleagues to project unity.

Several advocates and community leaders raised concerns at the Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday about community oversight and equity in spending the bond money, if voters approve of the measure.

Federal dollars, which historically have funded massive flood control projects, such as the Addicks and Barker dams or the widening of Brays or Sims bayous, require a rigorous cost-benefit calculation that prioritizes dollars in damage avoided and could discount the poorer parts of the county.

“Poorer communities have historically received less money for flood protection than wealthier ones,” said Texas Southern University urban planning and environmental policy professor Robert Bullard, who has pushed environmental justice issues for years. “We must add a community oversight committee and a robust public engagement program into the bond proposal process.”

Poppe said the district plans to hold several public hearings, among other outreach efforts, to involve members of the community, though that process has yet to be formulated.

The vote authorized the county to write a letter seeking permission from Gov. Greg Abbott to call the election, who by law needs to give his go-ahead before it can move forward. A spokeswoman said Abbott had no comment until he receives the letter.