METRO, City of Houston and Harris County Announce Shares of $18.7 Billion Settlement Resulting from Deepwater Horizon Suit
METRO, Harris County, and the City of Houston announced today their respective shares of an $18.7 billion settlement of claims related to the 2010 oil spill. METRO will receive $9,224,113 in lost sales tax revenue. Houston will receive $12,155,549 for lost hotel and sales tax revenue, and Harris County will receive $2.1 million from hotel occupancy tax revenue it lost as a result of the epic spill.
After expenses and attorneys’ fees are deducted, METRO’s award
totals just under $6 million.
METRO Board Chairman Gilbert Garcia said both METRO's union and non-union pension plans might benefit from this inflow of new monies.
"Pension funds are going to require greater and greater contributions over time. It's wise to contribute the award money now, so the compound interest accelerates the investment taking the pressure off in the long run," said Garcia.
The Board will have a comprehensive review of the pension plans at the next board meeting.
Cities, counties and regional governments throughout the Gulf Coast have been meeting since July 2 to find agreement on the proposed settlement which must still receive final approval from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. That approval is expected within the next few days.
Local officials were restrained from revealing individual amounts until the final approval of the settlement, but the district court relaxed the order this week, allowing METRO, Houston and Harris County to reveal settlement amounts.
This global settlement resolves all federal and state claims resulting from the Deepwater Horizon accident and includes agreements with Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas as well as local governments. BP’s total settlement includes a $5.5 billion civil penalty to be paid over the next 15 years under the Clean Water Act.
More than 500 local governmental entities including METRO, the City of Houston, and Harris County filed claims for compensation for the economic loss suffered as a result of that spill.
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