Texas Local Communities Grant Program

The Texas General Land Office (GLO), under the leadership of Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., has launched a funding opportunity to assist communities impacted by 2024 disasters, including Hurricane Beryl. The program, known as the Local Communities Program (LCP), provides a total of $97,033,950 to support disaster recovery efforts focused on infrastructure restoration and economic revitalization. The announcement reflects the agency’s continued commitment to helping rebuild stronger, more resilient communities across the state. The LCP is part of the GLO’s disaster recovery portfolio and is designed specifically to assist local governments and tribal entities located within the 92 counties designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as eligible. Within these, 27 counties are designated as Most Impacted and Distressed (MID) and are prioritized for at least 80% of the funding. This ensures that communities with the most severe damage from the 2024 disasters will receive the majority of the available assistance. The program aligns with HUD's national objectives by targeting projects that primarily benefit low- and moderate-income populations, aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or address urgent community needs. Eligible applicants include city and county governments and Indian tribes operating within the defined geographic scope. The program is not open to nonprofits, individuals, or private-sector applicants. Funding may be used for a variety of infrastructure-related activities, such as the reconstruction or repair of public facilities, drainage systems, water and sewer improvements, and other projects that support long-term recovery and resilience. The GLO emphasizes that all proposed projects must align with federal disaster recovery rules and be eligible under HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) guidelines. To participate in the program, prospective applicants must submit a project proposal during the application window, which opens on February 19, 2026, and closes on March 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Central Time. Only proposals received within this time frame will be considered for evaluation and potential invitation to submit a full application. A pre-submission informational webinar is scheduled for February 18, 2026, to provide applicants with guidance on eligibility, required components, and the scoring framework. Webinar details and full program guidelines are accessible at recovery.texas.gov/24dlcp. Evaluation of submitted proposals will be based on criteria set forth by the GLO, which include alignment with recovery objectives, potential for long-term community impact, and the degree of damage or need as documented by the applicant. Projects located in MID counties will receive priority consideration in accordance with HUD’s funding requirements. Proposals deemed eligible and competitive may be invited to proceed to a full application phase, though this initial call is specifically for project submissions, not final funding decisions. The Texas GLO is managing all aspects of the program’s implementation, including application intake, evaluation, and award distribution. Contact for inquiries is the GLO Press Office at [email protected] or (512) 936-9582. This program is not recurring, and the current opportunity is specifically tied to the recovery needs resulting from the 2024 disasters. There is no indication of future rounds of funding beyond this cycle.