$1.3 billion shortfall leads to Harris County Commissioners choosing flood projects to finish

Harris County $1.3 billion short on flooding mitigation projects

With a shortcoming of $1.3 billion in funding for efforts to remedy the disastrous effects of severe weather events, Harris County commissioners have opted to move forward on only select relief projects.

HARRIS COUNTY - Harris County is over $1 billion short of completing all the flood-prevention projects promised after Hurricane Harvey.

Because of that, Commissioners voted on Thursday on which projects to continue funding.

RELATED: Harris County Commissioners to decide on which flooding projects to continue

Harris County flooding projects limited due to budget shortfall

What we know:

In 2018, voters approved a $2.5 billion bond issue.

Seven years later, the county is short by about $1.3 billion, meaning all the projects promised will not be completed.

So far, 43 out of 181 projects have been completed.

Dozens of community members shared their frustrations, saying they've been waiting years for flood relief.

A lot of communities will be waiting even longer and are now being left in limbo.

Harris County Commissioners and County Judge Lina Hidalgo voted 4-1 to fully fund projects in Quartile One, which are considered high priority.

Commissioner Tom Ramsey voted against the motion, saying the funding distributed across different precincts is unfair.

Harris County Commissioners to decide on which flooding projects to continue

Harris County Commissioners are expected to have a heated meeting on Thursday about the leftover money that was granted for flood projects. FOX 26's Greg Groogan explains.

Judge Hidalgo on budget shortfall

What they're saying:

County Judge Lina Hidalgo addressed the shortfall before Thursday's vote:

"It’s frustrating. It’s not what you were promised, what we were promised. I voted for the bond myself. The bond was presented to the taxpayers that did not acknowledge that it could possibly fund all the projects and, over the years, we’ve discovered this and have been told by the department heads that they could pull money from here and there maybe make it work, but it makes clear now they can’t all be done," said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Judge Hidalgo also claimed the $2.5 billion bond was never enough money in the first place.

"I think that bond needed to be much bigger and people would have approved it because it was right after Harvey, and we would have been able to do so much more. So I’m in a hurry to have these to be done to finish the framework that was created. It is flawed. It’s not ideal. It leaves a lot of people out. I need us to finish this so we can look at making the region resilient," said Hidalgo.

What's next:

The Harris County Flood Control District will report back to Commissioners Court with a recommended schedule for future projects by Sept. 18.

Commissioners also approved a motion to launch a public dashboard to track the projects. The dashboard is expected to go live by September and will be updated every six months, or when new information becomes available.