Mayor Sylvester Turner has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to have state government use part of the Texas Economic Stabilization Fund to aid Houston’s flood recovery. The letter can be viewed at: http://houstontx.gov/govtrelations/rainy-day-letter.pdf
Using part of the $10 billion-plus in the Rainy Day Fund “is appropriate for (the) response to a natural disaster such as Harvey that wreaked significant damage and caused local governments to incur unanticipated costs far beyond their budgets,” the mayor said.
Mayor Turner added that without aid from the state fund, the city will be forced to increase its property tax rate on a temporary, emergency basis for 12 months to help pay its recovery bills. The mayor is seeking City Council approval for an increase that would cost the owner of an average Houston dwelling $4.03 per month for a year.
The mayor said use of the Rainy Day Fund is also appropriate to help fix the damage from the 27 trillion gallons of rain that fell on Texas from Hurricane Harvey.