Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Cass County Judge
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Cass County has partnered with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) on their HOME Program which removes blight properties around the county and provides for the construction of new, energy efficient affordable homes for low income property owners. Through this program we have brought over $2 million dollars in new residential construction to Cass County in the last two years. TDHCA serves as the state agency responsible for the financing and compliance monitoring of most of the affordable housing developed in Texas.
The Department also administers state and federal funding to combat homelessness and provide community- based and energy assistance to residents in need through partnerships with cities and counties that receive no direct allocation of federal housing dollars (Non-Participating Jurisdictions), nonprofit and community-based organizations, private developers, and public housing authorities. Check out their website if you or someone you know is in need of assistance. https://www.tdhca.texas. gov/
I69 Corridor
Cass County is part of the I-69 Alliance which is focused on preserving all current transportation funding sources including full allocation of funds from voter-approved Prop 1 and Prop 7.
The Alliance Board of Directors approved legislative priorities for 2025 that include opposing legislation that diverts or dilutes existing revenue streams that fund highway projects and support for reauthorization of TxDOT authority to bond projects through the Texas Mobility Fund which currently expires next year.
The Alliance supports the elimination of the local cost of utility relocations for publicly-owned utilities on congressionally authorized interstate highway projects in Economically Disadvantaged Counties like Cass County. The Alliance also supports creation of a Blue Ribbon Committee of stakeholders to analyze and identify the state’s unmet transportation funding needs through the year 2050.
The Alliance is a part of the Transportation Advocates of Texas (TAoT) which has a similar list of legislative priorities.
More than 250 miles of the Interstate 69 route in Texas are already at freeway standard with controlled access and about 100 more miles are near freeway standard. The first 6.2 miles of I-69, located near Corpus Christi, was added to the Interstate Highway System in 2011. Since then more that 200 more miles have been added to the interstate system including the new Interstate 2 which connects two legs of I-69 in the Rio Grande Valley.
A total of 75 miles of US 59 in the greater Houston area is now Interstate 69 reaching from Rosenberg on the south through Downtown and north on the Eastex Freeway to south of Cleveland. Completed freeway sections have been marching steadily north and south from Houston for the past two decades. US 59, US 77, US 281, US 84, Loop 20/US 59 in Laredo and State Highway 44 in South Texas are being incrementally transformed into Interstate 69 in Texas.
In 2015 TxDOT and the Alliance for I-69 were successful in winning congressional approval of adding State Highway 44 from Corpus Christi west to Freer as a key future I-69 connector. The corridor through Cass County is a portion designated I369 which generally follows the existing US Hwy 59 corridor from Panola County north, ultimately connecting to I-30 in Texarkana.
Public Meetings in Cass County
Cass County Commissioners Court, 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 8:30am, 2nd Floor courtroom at 604 Hwy 8 North in Linden.
Atlanta City Council, Meetings are held the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 5:30pm at City Hall, 315 N. Buckner in Atlanta.
Avinger City Council, Meetings are held the last Monday of each month at 6:30pm at Avinger City Hall at 6 North Main Street.
Hughes Springs City Council - Meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM at City Hall located at 603 East 1st Street in Hughes Springs.
Linden City Council - Meetings are held the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:00pm at the Mary Daugherty Senior Citizens Center, 507 S. Kaufman in Linden.
Queen City Council - Meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:00pm at City Hall, 601 Loop 236, Queen City.
Cass County Roads
Cass County has almost 1,000 miles of county maintained roads. For decades these roads have been underfunded. While we press the state to fund state transportation projects, at the local level we have to do our part. Our fiscal year 2025 county budget increased funding for county roads by over 20% without raising the tax rate. We accomplished this by some structural changes in our county road and bridge budget.
County Commissioners are now paid out of the general fund instead of the Road and Bridge fund because they are more than just road commissioners but serve as board members for the entire county and its operation. We also eliminated an erroneous, non-statutory tax exemption in our road and bridge fund which had been in place for decades which reduced funding flowing into the road and bridge fund.
Additionally, the Commissioners Court created a new $4 million dollar transportation trust fund for the county. A percentage of interest earned annually is distributed to the road and bridge fund while the remainder is reinvest- ed to grow the fund year over year. TxDOT has also been a supportive partner by providing around 9 times our normal allocation of road millings this year. The combination of these changes are a good start at addressing needs that have significantly outpaced resources for decades.
Reach out to my office — P.O. Box 825 Linden, TX 75563 Phone: 903-756-5181, Ext. 0 Fax: 903-756-5732