Houston City Council Member Letitia Plummer has postponed a contentious proposal concerning the allocation of $315 million in federal disaster recovery funds, as outlined by Mayor John Whitmire’s administration.
The funds, originating from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), were made available following federally declared weather disasters in 2024.
Despite identifying approximately $230 million in urgent home repairs and related housing needs stemming from storm damage, the plan presently allocates only $50 million for housing initiatives.
In a statement to Houston Public Media, Plummer cited the need for further discussions with stakeholders as the reason for the delay.
She indicated plans to propose an amendment aimed at increasing the funds designated for home repairs but did not disclose specific details at this time.
“There are many people in the city of Houston that should not be caught up with the bureaucracy of what we deal with. They need to get their houses repaired,” Plummer emphasized.
The original proposal went through a public commentary process in June, which included three community meetings held virtually, two of which coincided with work hours.
In a shift from traditional procedures, the proposal was examined by the city’s budget committee rather than the housing committee, which raises concerns about the intention behind the allocation.
Initially, the plan had no budget for housing; however, following objections from Tiffany Thomas, chair of the housing committee, and various housing advocates, an increase to $50 million was negotiated.
Thomas expressed doubts about the adequacy of this allocation, highlighting a historical precedence of HUD disaster recovery funds being supervised by the housing committee.
She stated, “The fact that HUD federal dollars that have historically come to the housing committee were bypassed to go to (the budget committee) signaled to me as chair that there was no intention of production of housing inventory; that this plan was already baked by the administration.
“And frankly, if it was not for my firm dissent and the public outcry, I don’t think we would have received $50 million,” Thomas added.
Conversely, a significant portion of the funding is designated for the administration’s Power Protection Initiative, which plans to install backup power generators at over 100 city-owned facilities.
Officials supporting this initiative argue that extended power outages following Hurricane Beryl revealed deficiencies in the city’s resilience to disasters.
While Thomas acknowledges the importance of investing in public facilities, she remarked on the shortcomings of the plan, questioning the balance between infrastructure funding and individual home repair support.
“However, after I charge my phone or my oxygen tank for three days at a multipurpose center, and I return to my home with a tree on the roof, what about me?” she asked, underscoring the immediate needs of constituents.
The proposed funding breakdown allocates $151 million for power generation, $50 million for home repairs, about $41 million for debris removal programs, $41 million for homelessness services, and $15 million for public safety and emergency response efforts.
Even with the infusion of federal cash, the Power Protection Initiative is still projected to be roughly $80 million short of its estimated $230 million budget.
Thomas had introduced an amendment that aimed to boost home repair funding to $100 million by reallocating resources from the power initiative.
Despite the introduction of Plummer’s amendment next week, Thomas plans to support her own amendment regardless of Plummer’s proposal.
Council Member Fred Flickinger noted a divide in strategies regarding how best to utilize the available funds.
“One is we can give repair assistance to a finite number of people … or we can spend the money for things like generation for our emergency services that benefit the entire city,” he stated.
In addition to the $50 million from the current recovery fund, the administration is also directing recovery funds from previous disasters into housing support.
These include $20 million for down payment assistance associated with Hurricane Harvey recovery and $40 million for home repairs linked to Winter Storm Uri.
Steven David, deputy chief of staff for Whitmire, emphasized, “When we talk about $50 million narrowly looking at (2024 funding), it is an incomplete view of the amount of money that is going right now towards housing.
“It also doesn’t account for the larger infrastructure that we have put in place to make sure that affordability is a driving theme in being able to live in a home or own a home in the city of Houston,” he added.
The administration remains optimistic that the proposed plan will receive approval from the federal government.
In a recent statement, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner mentioned that HUD is offering local municipalities greater flexibility on how to allocate recovery funds as they are more attuned to local needs.
Zoe Middleton, an associate policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, reiterated advocates’ calls for more substantial funding aimed at housing repair needs.
She cautioned that a $50 million allocation is likely inadequate, stating, “You’ll see people continuing to live in unrepaired homes or under-repaired homes.
“You’ll see them go into debt to try and finance some level of repairs, and you’ll see over time that Houston’s reputation for being affordable will start to erode as the existing affordable housing stock bears the brunt of extreme weather,” she explained.
The city council is set to reassess the proposal next week.
image source from：houstonpublicmedia
