The clock is ticking for Liberty County homeowners in flood-prone communities to apply for buyout grants. The deadline to apply is June 17, 2022. To date, 43 Liberty County homeowners have been approved for buyout assistance, but many others are still eligible and have yet to apply.
“We haven’t received an application in months. This is our final way of saying that we don’t want to close people out but they have been given ample time to apply,” said Tyler Smith with GrantWorks, the Austin-based firm hired by Liberty County to administrate the buyout program.
In November 2019, Liberty County was approved for $6.7 million in grant funding, which is being distributed by the Texas General Land Office on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Disaster Recovery program. The County initially prioritized the two communities of New River Lake Estates and Sam Houston Lake Estates as those most at risk for future flooding. Those communities are threatened with being cut off as the roads leading into the neighborhoods are at risk of being washed away or are badly damaged from previous flood.
Since that time, the subdivisions of Snake River Lake Estates and Knights Forest have been added, but that has not precluded residents other parts of the county from applying.
“The only restriction we have is that you must be in a target area or your home has to be in a flood plain. Liberty County has a significant flood way that takes up about 15 percent of the entire county. Most of this is around the Trinity River, but there are other flood plains that do not stem from the Trinity River. The folks in those other areas are not excluded from the buyout program as long as their home is in a flood way and was impacted by Hurricane Harvey,” Smith said.
The buyout grants will pay homeowners the pre-Harvey value for their homes, a deal that is too good to pass up for those who have been unable to sell their homes due to damage from Harvey or the uncertainty of future flooding.
“This is a great opportunity for folks who have had recurring flood conditions in their neighborhoods to the extent of it ruining their homes. Added to that are the conditions of the accessibility of their homes during and after a flood,” said Liberty County Judge Jay Knight. “Opportunities like this don’t come often. If Liberty County residents feel like they should make this consideration, please review your options and apply. The deadline is drawing near.”
The application is the first step in a multi-layer process that includes reviews from the GLO, environmental clearances, appraisals and buyout offer letters.
“We have issued 11 offers, and as far as I am aware, we have had two signed packets returned to us from those offers. That number is going to continue to grow in the coming weeks as we wrap up all the documentation for the other homes,” Smith said.
While GLO prioritizes the grant money for low-to-moderate income residents, that does not mean that higher income residents will not be funded.
“Seventy percent of the grant has to go toward serving low-to-moderate income homeowners, but that should leave plenty for the other homes. Our goal is to buy all the houses that are being offered in the buyout program,” Smith said.
The highest concentration of applicants comes from the New River Lake Estates community where 22 homes are expected to be part of the buyout. Sam Houston Lake Estates has the second-highest concentration of homes in the buyout – 8. The remainder are scattered across Liberty County including the communities of Daisetta, Knights Forest, Hardin, Snake River and Plum Grove.
“We are only buying properties that had homes on them at the time of Hurricane Harvey. I have received about 200 calls from people that are interested in selling their land in the flood plain. We can’t buy land. This is a housing program,” Smith said.
The homes purchased through the buyout program will be bulldozed to the ground. The land will be turned over to Liberty County (initially it was thought that the land would be given to the Texas Parks and Wildlife). Once the property is purchased through the buyout program, it can never again be used as a homesite.
Anyone interested in applying should call Tyler Smith at 512-817-4437 or send email to tyler@grantworks.net.
Thanks Grants works for putting this final public call out through the news. Very good update on the two new subdivisions !