After the Oct. 30-31 flooding in San Marcos, conversations have turned to the city potentially buying out properties in flood-prone areas. The amount of federal funding support the city receives, if any, is likely to determine whether the city pursues buyouts in certain areas, City Manager Jared Miller said. “Sure [buyouts are] something we’re going to evaluate, but it’s a long-term solution,” Miller said. “We don’t know if we’re going to have funds for it, and we’re certainly going to talk to the neighborhoods it affects. It’s going to have to be something that they want to do as well.” If the city is provided with federal funds and City Council decides to move forward with any buyouts, it would be an “all or nothing deal,” he said. Purchasing and demolishing certain residences in an area while leaving others standing nearby would not accomplish the goal of improving safety during flood events. Even if buyouts, which Miller said are one of many options the city is considering, are pursued, it would likely be at least a couple of years before the properties are purchased, he said. According to initial assessments performed by city staff, damage from the October flood occurred throughout the city, but—as in May—the Blanco Gardens neighborhood, east of I-35 and north of River Road, was one of the hardest-hit areas. Natalie Gaitan, a Blanco Gardens resident whose home took in about 18-24 inches of water in May, said her home took in about six inches during the October flood. On Nov. 10 she received a notice of reappraisal of her property. Before the May flood her property was valued at about $100,000, she said, but it is now valued at $51,000, according to the Hays Central Appraisal District. She expects that number will fall further when the homes are again reappraised in light of the October flood. “Before I got that notice yesterday I was going to fix the home and sell it, but now who’s going to want to buy it from me?” Gaitan said. “I’m going to have to give it away. Who is going to buy it for $100,000? I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m not going to move back. That’s for sure. “ Gaitan said she has lived at her home on Conway Drive for 23 years, and until May floodwater had never entered it. She said she suspects the Woods Apartments, located adjacent to the neighborhood on River Road, contributed to the flooding. “No one is going to tell me those apartments don’t have anything to do with it,” she said. “I remember the water used to flow. Now it just backs up and floods us.” Gaitan said she is not sure if she would accept a buyout offer from the city. The October flood is still too fresh on her mind, she said. From what Miller said he has seen in other cities, property owners are offered the appraised value of their home before the flood or other event affected their home's value. Individual assistance, such as FEMA money to repair the home, is subtracted from the offer amount, he said. But City Council will have latitude in determining how much to offer homeowners, Miller said. “[Buyouts are] going to be a deal that has hair on it,” Miller said. “It’s not going to be a clean, easy, ‘Everybody wants to do it, we do it, everyone’s happy.’ If we decide to do it, it’s going to fix areas that are flood-prone. But there will be people who are very tied to that land and tied to those houses. “We’re going to have to figure out exactly how committed we are, how much the neighborhood wants it, generally, overall, and how many resources we have," he said. Miller said if the city pursues buyouts, homeowners who are uninterested in selling may face condemnation proceedings, whereby they will be given a fair market value for their home and be forced to vacate the property. Miller said that is the last option the city wants to pursue. There is not yet a plan in place one way or the other, Miller said. The city is still assessing damage from the storm and waiting for the federal government to decide if it will make a disaster declaration. In the meantime, the city has submitted applications for hazard mitigation grant funding, which can be used to elevate homes in flood-prone areas, construct large drainage projects to prevent future flooding and buyout properties in flooded areas.