Houston council to vote on $35.8 million for streets and drainage
City Council was poised to vote on $35.8 million for streets and drainage, a small slice of Houston’s flood-fighting backlog, spread across six ordinances.
Houston leaders were set to put $35,837,662.51 toward streets and drainage, a relatively small round of spending aimed at the same flood-prone corridors and rough road conditions that keep surfacing across the city. The package was divided into six ordinances and was scheduled for a Wednesday morning vote at Houston City Hall.
The money was intended for future street and drainage work throughout Houston, so any relief would come only after those projects move from approval to construction. That lag is part of the problem residents know well in Harris County, where clogged drainage and broken pavement can turn a heavy rain into damaged property, snarled commutes and repeated repairs.
District A Councilwoman Amy Peck said drainage projects matter because they help homeowners and businesses avoid repeated flooding. Houston Public Works Director Randy Macchi put the scale of the need bluntly, calling the $35.8 million package “a drop in the bucket” compared with what still has to be done.
The broader numbers explain why. Houston’s FY 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan includes $1.156 billion for storm drainage system improvements, with funding drawn mainly from drainage fees and the Dedicated Drainage and Street Renewal Fund. The city says its share of the voter-approved drainage tax will rise from 57% to 67% in fiscal 2026, then to 77% in fiscal 2027, before reaching the full 11.8-cent allotment in fiscal 2028.
That framework traces back to the 2010 charter amendment approved by voters, which created a drainage fee for street and drainage improvement projects. After a 2025 settlement over drainage-fund obligations, city officials said Houston would be able to move forward with its budget and drainage commitments, adding hundreds of millions more to drainage funding over the coming years.
The council vote also sat inside the city’s larger Build Houston Forward, or ReBuild Houston, system, the five-year capital strategy that guides where infrastructure dollars go. Houston says council agendas must be posted at least three full business days before meetings under the Texas Open Meetings Act, a basic transparency rule that puts public spending decisions on the record before they are made.
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