A funding shortfall is threatening Howard County’s continuing recovery efforts related to the historic Ellicott City floods in 2011, 2016 and 2018.

Proposed funding for Ellicott City Safe and Sound projects in the county’s fiscal 2026 budget is about $320 million, but the total cost for the projects stands at around $430 million.

Fiscal 2026 begins July 1.

During a Howard County Council budget work session May 8, county officials discussed the $110 million gap between the amount of funding committed to EC Safe and Sound projects and the total cost of completing the projects as envisioned.

“I don’t think I was surprised by the numbers. I will tell you what I’m surprised by is that you don’t seem to have an identifiable means of paying for the latter projects, which is really problematic, in my view, when some of these projects involve buildings that have already been demolished,” Council Chair Liz Walsh, who represents the district that includes historic Ellicott City, said during the work session.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball released the Safe and Sound plan in 2018, which consists of seven projects for flood mitigation to enhance safety and protect Ellicott City’s historic area. Of the projects, the H-7 Pond at the intersection of Routes 29 and 40, and the Quaker Mill Pond along Rogers Avenue have been completed. The H-4 Pond along Frederick Road west of Route 29 and the Extended North Tunnel project are under construction.

The remaining projects — the NC-3 Pond on the New Cut branch, the T-1 pond on the Tiber tributary and the Maryland Avenue culverts — are still in the planning stages. About $14.5 million has been spent or allotted for the three projects, according to the county, with a total estimated cost of $119 million.

Four historic buildings on lower Main Street were torn down to make way for the Maryland Avenue culverts, which will connect the Tiber-Hudson tributary to the Patapsco River. The demolitions allowed for the expanded Tiber Park in its interim state with astroturf and seating as a public gathering area. If there isn’t enough funding to continue the work, it would “definitely irritate some of us who are opposed to demolition,” Walsh said in April.

The demolition of the buildings raised concerns from residents such as Gayle Killen, who purchased a home in historic Ellicott City just before the 2011 flash flood. Without the buildings, there are fewer structures in which to seek safety during flooding, she said, and fewer ways for water to penetrate the ground. Plastic astroturf also comes at a higher cost than sod or dirt and seed, she said. She’s been watching “things continue to be let go” for years.

“This place requires a special kind of management. You can’t just send in the big corporate contractor and say, ‘Clean it up, put her back,’ you know,” Killen said. “And that’s what’s been done here.”

Much of the $110 million gap “can be made up,” said Mark Deluca, chief of the county’s Department of Public Works Bureau of Environmental Services. Some projects were listed as pending funding or were awaiting a decision on whether to complete “that particular element of design,” which would be decided based on an assessment of the costs and benefits, he said.

“So that’s a future exercise as we attempt to get the money and look to the administration and other decision makers to figure out whether we would move forward with some of the items,” Deluca said.

In April, Brian Shepter, deputy chief of staff for the Howard County government, said it was uncertain whether $20 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be released at some point in the future. The Maryland Department of Emergency Management was able to help close two low-interest loans of $5 million each for the North Tunnel and Maryland Avenue culverts. Loans for the NC-3 and T-1 ponds are pending FEMA review, according to Safa Hira, director of communications for the Howard County government.

“At a time when programs like FEMA’s BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) are unavailable, the Resilient Maryland Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) allows Maryland to continue advancing critical mitigation projects without delay — supporting efforts to reduce risks, safeguard property, and protect lives in vulnerable communities,” the Department of Emergency Management said in a statement.

The FEMA money is one of the funding streams needed to complete the projects as the county pursues grants, loans and direct dollar commitments through local, state and federal programs, Shepter said. Should the FEMA funding not be released, it could slow the construction schedule for the projects under design as the county must lock in enough construction money to break ground.

The county would look to other grant and loan programs at the state and local level, and perhaps alternatives at the federal level as well, if the FEMA funding is unavailable, Shepter said.

“There’s just a lot of uncertainty right now,” Shepter said.

During the budget work session, Deluca said that the county is pursuing revolving loans with the state and any state bond initiative. As federal funding might become available, the county will chase that money as well, but it isn’t “really looking too much at federal dollars,” Deluca said.

Construction on the North Tunnel is expected to remain on schedule with “substantial completion” anticipated for the fall of 2027, Shepter said. According to Deluca, there is enough funding available to complete the main strip of the tunnel from Papillon Drive and Frederick Road to the Patapsco River.

There is also enough funding for whatever plan the county and CSX agree on to put the tunnel under the train tracks, Deluca said. If needed, he said, there is funding for track realignment and the replacement of the Main Street CSX bridge. It might be possible to complete the underground portion of Lot F, a project that is part of the larger North Tunnel. But to execute the full project, Deluca said, the county is about $25 million short.

David Yungmann, council member for District 5, asked to see the impact of the stormwater retention ponds on the height of the water and what impact the North Tunnel will bring, especially with the tunnel’s high price tag. Yungmann said a serious conversation is needed “if the tunnel is not a significant driver of this.”

“I think you’re going to find the opposite, which is those other things were window dressing to make us think that we were doing something, and the North Tunnel is the silver bullet. But that’s what we want to see. That’s what we wanted to see for six years,” Walsh said, referring to a lack of information on cumulative costs for six years.

The council is set to vote on the operating budget for fiscal 2026 and the budget for capital projects, which includes $23.2 million for the plan, on May 21.

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