City Agrees to Repay U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $7 Million (And, If Need Be, More)

Back in September it was revealed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants back $15 million it gave to the city for the Dallas Floodway Extension project, insisting those federal funds were improperly advanced beginning with the first payment made back in '04. In the words of Col. Richard J. Muraski Jr., the commander of the Fort Worth District: The Corps discovered its accounting whoops during FY2010, when it realized "we weren't authorized" to advance the city all those many millions. Problem is the city spent $8 million of the $15 million on buying up unspecified properties for the project. And every time the subject came up at council, it would go behind closed doors to discuss what next.

But per the agenda addendum for Wednesday's meeting, the city and Corps have worked out an arrangement: Should council sign off on the resolution this week, the city will have 30 days to pay back $7 million to the Corps out of its U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Cooperation Funds account. But that may not be the end of the repayment plan. According to the resolution:

The City and the Army have agreed that the City shall repay the Army $7,000,000 within 30 days of the date this resolution takes effect and that the City, subject to appropriation, shall repay the Army some or all of the remaining $8,000,000 if after an independent audit it is determined that the City is entitled to a credit of less than $8,000,000 for its design and construction of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant and Rochester Park levees, with the amount of this repayment being the amount the credit is less than $8,000,000, and this amount being due in three equal annual installments, with the first annual payment being due within 120 days after the date that the Army provides the City, in writing, the amount of the credit and the City exhausting its rights, if any, to appeal the determination of the amount of credit;