Texas General Land Office Announces $35.8M In CDBG-DR Funds

Eligible entities from 112 of the 116 Texas counties affected by the 2015 floods submitted long-term recovery project proposals for the available funding.

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced on March 21 that more than $35.8 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds have been approved for 38 locally identified infrastructure and housing projects in 23 communities impacted by the 2015 flooding events.

Of the total funding, $24.4 million will be used for infrastructure projects, and $11.4 million is designated for new and reconstructed housing.

Eligible entities from 112 of the 116 Texas counties affected by the 2015 floods submitted long-term recovery project proposals for the available funding.

The remaining four counties were identified by HUD as “most impacted” and received separate funding allocations.

The GLO accepted project applications for 120 days, but due to Hurricane Harvey, the GLO extended the deadline to allow communities devastated by both the hurricane and 2015 floods time to submit applications.

Due to limited funding, not all projects submitted were funded, resulting in an unmet need of locally submitted projects totaling more than $48 million.

The Willacy County Housing Authority and the following counties will receive funding: Grimes, Jasper, Jim Wells, Newton and Willacy. The following cities also will receive funding: Bridgeport, Buffalo, Clifton, Corsicana, Dawson, Hubbard, Jewett, Kirbyville, Lyford, Navasota, Normangee, Orange Grove, Premont, Raymondville, Reno, Rice and Somerville.

The current allocation of CDBG-DR funds is well below the previously identified $2 billion in unmet needs for 2015 and 2016 flooding events.

A complete listing of funded projects and the eligibility and application process is located at www.TexasRebuilds.org.