Harris County Flood Control District makes final pitch to voters on maintenance tax increase

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Harris County voters decide more than political races. They are also debating whether to spend more to reduce flooding.

After Hurricane Harvey, voters approved raising more than $2 billion for flood reduction projects. The problem now is that the flood district has too many tools and not enough ways to keep them sharp.

“We have taken on more and more responsibility,” explained Tina Peterson, director of the Harris County Flood Control District. “Over the past 25 years, the amount of real estate we are responsible for has more than doubled.”

To raise maintenance money, the flood district wants voters to approve higher property taxes. It comes at a time when neighbors are already paying more.

The commissioners court increased taxes by eight percent. For the average homeowner, that’s $160 more per year.

For the flood management prop Athe average homeowner would pay $60 more per year. That’s $220 more.

Higher bills were discussed at a meeting with voters on Wednesday. One person has raised this concern.

“How can Harris County residents be assured that this tax increase will not be used for other county projects?” asked a neighbor.

The agency said a new fund has been set up to ensure this doesn’t happen.

“What this means is that there is a special restrictive fund into which we would deposit all, if approved, any additional maintenance revenue into that account,” said Harris County Chief Finance. & Administrative Assistant Bruce Haupt explained.

The flood district is asking neighbors to spend more money while it still works on the bond approved after Hurricane Harvey.

About 40 areas have been completed so far. There are about 140 more to go, including this mitigation project in Kingwood.

“Progress takes time,” Peterson said. “The processes we have to work through are not fast, and we anxiously drive as fast as we can to get the work done.”

If approved, the higher taxes would generate about $100 million more per year for maintenance. Eyewitness News asked leaders how much more maintenance they could do with that.

They told ABC13 they can only maintain projects once every 270 years. With the extra money they could perform maintenance once every 67 years.

For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario Facebook, X And Instagram.