Nearly 40% of flood control infrastructure in the county has less than 10 years left on its overall lifeline, with at least 35% of projects needing serious repairs in the next 20 years, officials said.
At the upcoming Nov. 5 election, Harris County voters will choose whether to fund the HCFCD’s proposed tax rate of $0.04897 per $100 of valuation—a 58% increase from the previous fiscal year.
If the tax rate increase passes, HCFCD officials said an additional $113 million would go directly into a dedicated maintenance fund supporting critical maintenance projects, staffing needs and new resident-focused communication initiatives.
“It’s important that as we recover from [recent storms] and look to make our area more resilient, that we invest in the maintenance side of it as well,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said.
Zooming in
HCFCD officials shared 36 maintenance projects as examples of projects that could be funded should the tax rate increase pass, including eight in Precinct 3. In the Lake Houston area, two projects are slated for the San Jacinto River watershed.
“We know that there is a tremendous need for flood mitigation in this area, and we are proud to have several projects underway in the Kingwood area right now, including both capital work to increase channel capacity and add storage … as well as maintenance work to make sure that our storm systems are functioning as intended,” HCFCD Executive Director Tina Peterson said.
Projects pegged for the Lake Houston area include channel rehabilitation and silt removal from various channels throughout the watershed.
“We’ve already moved close to 4 million cubic yards of sediment since [Hurricane] Harvey. There’s no doubt in my mind that in this last storm event we had, the removal of sediment actually kept Kingwood from flooding,” said Fred Flickinger, who represents District E on Houston City Council, which includes Kingwood. “So although everyone wants to see the [Lake Houston] dam done, … the work that we’re doing has absolutely made a difference.”
How we got here
With the county’s continued population growth, the number of assets the flood control district has to oversee and maintain also grew. At least $1 billion in project maintenance costs have already been deferred, Petersen said. While local tax incentives have supported various flood control projects, she said necessary maintenance funding has remained relatively flat over the past decade.
“This is a problem decades in the making. [The HCFCD] is 87 years old. Many large investments have been made in the organization’s history, but quite a number of them were in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Petersen said.
As Harris County commissioners approved the countywide fiscal year 2024-25 budget on Sept. 19, at least $10 million dedicated to maintenance assistance will come from the approved budget, flood control officials said.
Bob Rehak, a Kingwood resident who tracks flooding in the Lake Houston area through his blog “Reduce Flooding Now,” said while he supports the HCFCD’s mission to address deferred maintenance, he’s wary of the ballot proposition.
“I can support the HCFCD request. But before I vote for it, I want to see language in the proposal that guarantees it won’t all be spent somewhere else. I’d also like to see language that revokes the tax increase if it is,” Rehak wrote in a Sept. 7 blog post. “I intend to read this proposition very, very closely.”
What residents should know
If voters approve the measure, average Harris County homeowners with a $379,030 home and a homestead exemption would see a $60 increase per year in annual taxes, according to the county’s Office of Management and Budget.
“While residents cannot do anything to stop the above-average increase being levied on them by Harris County, one place where they can send a signal that they feel their property taxes are increasing too much is by a no-vote for the flood control district proposition,” said Mark Jones, political science professor at Rice University.