Unexplained Billion-Dollar Discrepancy in HCFCD Flood-Bond Reports

7/4/2025 – Let the fireworks begin early today. Comparing the two most recent flood-bond updates – Year End 2024 and First Quarter 2025 – shows that HCFCD spent about $44 million last quarter. But more than a billion dollars has disappeared from “funds available” during the same period.

Below is the raw spending data reported by HCFCD for the two time periods.

As I stared at these, problem after problem emerged. For instance, HCFCD “spent” only one dollar in the Spring Creek Watershed, but “funds remaining” went down by almost $12.5 million. It’s like that for virtually every watershed.

We need an immediate audit by an independent state agency.

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) released the reports after the last commissioners court meeting on 6/26/25. In that meeting, HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen claimed the county could be short as much as $1.3 billion to fulfill promises made to the public during the 2018 flood-bond election.

Four Democrats on Commissioners Court then used that as an excuse to reallocate all remaining funds to projects that scored the highest on Rodney Ellis’ Equity Prioritization Framework. Only the lone Republican, Tom Ramsey, raised an objection.

A Billion Dollars Goes MIA with Suspicious Timing

Interestingly, HCFCD released the two bond updates simultaneously but AFTER the court discussion. The timing precluded any public analysis of the reports before the meeting in which Commissioners reallocated all the remaining money in the bond to “equity” projects. The timing also precluded any public comment on the accounting and reallocation.

Debits and Credits Don’t Match

The two Flood Bond updates contain lists of watersheds with “money spent” and “remaining money available.” But the columns are not totaled. That’s always a suspicious practice from an accounting point of view.

So, I totaled and compared them:

HCFCD spent only $43.9 million in the last quarter. But $1.1 billion less remains in the till.

And no one thought to explain that!? Where did the money go? The public needs an answer!

Large Amounts Disappear In Virtually Every Watershed

Here’s how the billion dollars that mysteriously vaporized affected the San Jacinto Watershed.

Backup documentation in the report showed only one line item changed during this time period and only for $169,000. It provides no clue where $143 million went.

Other notable unexplained decreases included:

• $726.7 million in Countywide Funds
• $168 million in the Clear Creek Watershed
• $77 million in the Buffalo Bayou Watershed
• $59 million in Halls Bayou

One Billion Dollars Goes “Poof”!

Such unexplained decreases added up to the mysterious disappearance of $1,073,078,534.

Only Greens Bayou and Brays Bayou showed substantial increases. They totaled $80.3 million – not nearly enough to compensate for decreases in other watersheds. So this was not simply about moving money from one watershed to another.

Open one report and you see the cash. Open the next and you don’t.

Customarily financial reports include totals for columns. These don’t.

Nor does HCFCD any longer list Active Construction Projects on its website so reporters can crosscheck and verify reports by photographing construction activity.

No Mention of Trouble in Bond Updates

Neither of the bond updates warn the public about any impending crisis in bond funding. Just the opposite.

The 2024 Year-End Report says…

The County is “exceeding the original goal of the program and removing any funding uncertainty.”

Page 6 of 2024 Year End Bond Update

Smoke and Mirrors Should Trigger Immediate Audit

There’s too much here that doesn’t add up. We need an audit by the Texas Attorney General or U.S. Department of Justice immediately to see if money has really disappeared. I’m not alleging fraud. This could simply be a case of incompetence, mislabeling, bad proofreading, or the sloppiest financial reporting ever.

Yet Dr. Tina Petersen, head of HCFCD, just received a salary increase of almost $90,000. She now makes $434,000. That’s more than HCFCD reportedly spent in a third of the county’s watersheds combined last quarter.

For More Information

Here are the full 2024 Year End and 2025 First Quarter Reports. See pages 8 and 9 in the 2024 report and page 6 in the 2025 report (shown in screen capture above).

Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/4/25

2866 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

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