City of Dickinson Enters Program Guideline Comment Period for Voluntary CDBG-DR Buyout & Acquisition

April 14, 2022 - Dickinson, TX - The City of Dickinson CDBG-DR Voluntary Buyout & Acquisition program will begin this July for residents who live in areas of the City prone to experiencing repetitive loss. The program is designed to make our community more resilient while helping residents who have experienced significant property loss during major flooding events. The City of Dickinson received an allocation of $9,219,828 through the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) MOD. This money will be used as the sole funding source for the City's voluntary Buyout and Acquisition program.

The purpose of this program is to aid in the long-term recovery efforts following Hurricane Harvey; specifically, to assist in moving eligible property owners who have suffered repetitive flooding out of harm's way through fair market value buyouts or by redeveloping flood-prone properties for future mitigation activities through the acquisition process.

By offering this program to residents, we lessen our burden on our nation to continuously provide disaster relief; and lessen the dangers our first responders must endure when they are called upon to rescue those in harm's way.

Currently, the city is in the comment period for this project, which will last through the end of April. During this phase, residents are encouraged to provide input and feedback on the program guidelines before we finalize the document. We will then open the application period in July & August.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BUYOUT AND AN ACQUISITION?

If your property is eligible for a buyout, once the City closed on the property, we would then demolish it and the property would only be eligible to become green space or part of the City's flood mitigation efforts for perpetuity. All properties in areas 1 and 8 would only be eligible for a buyout.

If your property is eligible for acquisition, we would demolish the existing structure and clear the property. These properties, however, would be eligible to be redeveloped above the floodplain. There will be opportunities for developers to bid on these properties.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Residents who resided in a home within any of the eight designated areas during Hurricane Harvey are eligible to participate in the program. Residents in areas one and eight will be given priority funding. There will be an incentive offered to residents who chose to relocate within the city. Multi-family property owners are eligible to apply, however, priority will be given to single-family homeowners.

HOW WILL OFFERS BE CALCULATED:

All applicants will be made a reasonable offer based on the market values of their property that they can choose to accept or deny. Page 5 of the housing guidelines states "All offers to purchase made through this program are capped at the FHA lending limit in Dickinson, Galveston County, which is $331,760.00 for a single-family home or $424,800.00 for a two-family home."

HOW DO WE APPLY?

The city has designated a page on our website for this program. Once the application period opens on July 1st, residents will find the application and application guidelines on the website. Currently, we are accepting comments and feedback on the program guidelines by phone at 281-337-2489 ext. 252, by email to [email protected], or online at www.dickinsontexas.gov/voluntaryprogram.

HOW LONG WILL THE PROCESS TAKE?

We will begin accepting applications from July 1^st through August 31^st. The city is scheduled to begin making offers on November 1st and those offers would need to be accepted by December 31^st. From there, we would anticipate closing on all accepted offers by February 28, 2023.

TO FIND OUT MORE:

To find out more about the program, view FAQs, and provide feedback on the program guidelines - please visit our website at www.dickinsontexas.gov/voluntaryprogram.

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