Happy Friday, Houston! We have some big dollar figures to discuss in 5 Things to Know this morning, so let's get into the headlines.
• The Texas Homeowner Assistance Fund launched Wednesday to help people facing pandemic-related financial hardships, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs announced. The fund offers eligible households up to $40,000 for past-due mortgage payment assistance and up to $25,000 for past-due property taxes, property insurance, and delinquent homeowner association and/or condo association fees. In total, the fund will dole out about $840 million from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The TDHCA also has provided approximately $5 million in mortgage payment relief through two limited pilot programs.
• The University of Houston and the other two schools might have to pay an additional $35 million each to the American Athletic Conference to move to the Big 12, a person familiar with the discussions told the Houston Chronicle. That would be in addition to each school's $10 million exit fee, which is required under AAC bylaws along with a 27-month notice before leaving. The three schools are required to remain in the AAC through 2024, but at least UH is looking to leave in 2023. Negotiations are still underway, so the figure UH ends up paying could still decrease. Meanwhile, UH aims to raise between $100 million and $125 million from donors in order to make investments in athletics facilities, personnel and other efforts to be competitive in the Big 12 Conference, the Houston Business Journal recently reported.
• Last year was the best year for university endowments since 1983, with schools of all sizes reporting record returns, the Business Journals recently reported, citing the 2021 NACUBO-TIAA Study of Endowments. Rice University is the 17th-wealthiest college in the U.S., with endowment assets totaling $8.1 billion, or about $1.11 million for each of the 7,277 students enrolled as of fall 2020. That's significantly higher than the national average endowment size of $1.1 billion in 2021, a 35% increase from 2020. The 25 wealthiest college endowments in the country are collectively valued at $306.6 billion, as of June 30. Click here to read more about them.
• The city of Houston and the Houston Police Officers' Union have reached an agreement valued at $125.4 million over three years. The proposed contract would give police a 10.5% raise over three years and provide $6.7 million in special pay, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced yesterday. City Council still has to approve the contract, but the union already ratified the deal, with about 70% of members voting to approve it. Also yesterday, 61 new police officers were sworn in. The new officers and proposed contract come on the heels of Turner announcing the "One Safe Houston" plan last month to combat violent crime. Meanwhile, increasing employee pay has been a big issue for employers across the board during the pandemic as they try to attract and retain workers amid a tight labor market.
• Finally, Houston Business Journal hosted a virtual 2022 Economic Forecast panel on Feb. 17. Experts in economy and business shared their insights on the regional, state, and national economy for 2022 and reflected on how the pandemic is still impacting the economy. Read more about what they had to say in our cover story this week.