Officials: Disaster funding plan flawed

GALVESTON — A proposed state funding plan that could give the Houston-Galveston region a smaller share of federal disaster recovery funding than it received earlier this year is flawed, shortsighted and unfair, area officials told state representatives Thursday.

Under the plan proposed by the Texas Office of Rural and Community Affairs, which is charged with doling out $1.7 billion in federal funding, the Houston-Galveston Area Council would receive $623 million, 36 percent.

During the first $1.3 billion round of funding, the state awarded the council $814 million, 62 percent.

Spreading the money around to other communities that didn’t have as much damage as Galveston doesn’t make sense, City Manager Steve LeBlanc told state officials.

“It makes sense that you would use no other funding method than that which will help people most,” he said.

State officials used Federal Emergency Management Agency damage assessments to determine which communities should get the most funding during the first round of allocations earlier this year.

But after communities complained the federal assessments were not accurate, state officials decided to create an allocation model using weather data to show which areas had the most damage.

Relying on the weather leaves out a vital factor — the human element, Sterling Patrick, the director of Galveston’s Grants and Housing Department, said.

Sixty-one percent of houses on the island weren’t covered by flood insurance when Hurricane Ike slammed ashore last year, and 23 percent of island residents live below the poverty line, Patrick said.

Without federal disaster recovery funds, those people will not be able to repair their houses, he said.

The state also used the new weather model to adjust the funding handed out earlier this year. Regions that got more than they should have during the first round of funding, according to the weather model, got less in the second round.

Under the state’s proposed second round of funding, the 12-county region served by the Houston-Galveston Area Council will get $260 million for housing assistance and $359 million for non-housing projects.

The non-housing funds include $24.7 million set aside to purchase generators, $9.9 million for health care facilities and $39.6 for economic development.

Although the Houston-Galveston Area Council is not getting as much of the total allocation as it did before, it still gets the most funds of any region affected by hurricanes Ike and Dolly.

During Tuesday’s public hearing, area officials also protested the state’s decision not to allow county governments to distribute their share of funding to cities within their boundaries, as they did with the first round of funding.

This time, the state will manage all of the direct distributions and will set uniform criteria for deciding which projects get funded.

Changing the funding process now is counterproductive and inefficient, said Barbara Crews, a member of the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Ike Recovery Committee and Galveston County Restore and Rebuild.

Under the proposed plan, a community could have two different programs, each paid for by a different round of funding, offering the same aid, she said. Such a system will be confusing only for the people trying to get help, she said.

As part of its overall funding plan, the state also has proposed allocating $130 million to recovery enhancement projects and $174 million to an affordable rental program. Cities and counties in the affected areas would compete for those funds.

The state must submit its funding plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by Sept. 30. Comments about the plan must be submitted in writing to the agency by Sept. 14.

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At A Glance

Download comment forms at the Texas Office of Rural and Community Affairs Web site: www.orca.state.tx.us.

Comments can be sent to:

Disaster Recovery Division

P.O. Box 17900

Austin, TX 78760-7900

Fax: 512-936-0356

E-Mail: dractionplan2comments(at)orca.state.tx.us

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Proposed Funding Allocations

• Houston-Galveston Area Council — $623.1 million

• South East Texas Regional Planning Commission — $261.8 million

• Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council — $141.3 million

• Deep East Texas Council of Government — $187.6 million

• Recovery Enhancement Program — $130.7 million

• Affordable Rental Program — $174.3 million

• Rapid Housing Recovery Demonstration — $6 million

• Administration — $87 million

• Planning and Project delivery — $65.9 million

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