With potentially millions of dollars in transportation funding on the line for the Rio Grande Valley, the idea of consolidating the region’s three Metropolitan Planning Organizations has been percolating for several years. But, so far, only the Hidalgo County MPO is on record as being firmly behind the merger.

Hidalgo County MPO Director Andrew Cannon said such a consolidation could bring an additional $11 million a year to the Valley in formula-based funding through the Texas Department of Transportation. “It’s a significant financial gain for the region,” he said. “And we want to make sure it’s the rising tide that raises all ships.”

There lies the concern that appears to have slowed the process. With the largest population, Hidalgo County would receive the most funding. Brownsville and Harlingen-San Benito MPO leaders have aired concerns that Hidalgo could wield too much influence over regional funding outcomes, overshadowing the lower Valley.

The answer to that may come once all the entities can agree to a set of governing documents and bylaws. Proposed documents have been drafted and are still under review by Brownsville and Harlingen-San Benito.

“My position has been consistent all along, and that is as long as Harlingen and San Benito don’t lose any funding and we can share in increased funding I am open to the idea of it,” said Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell, who is the chairman of the Harlingen-San Benito MPO board.

“We are actively working on this. We are communicating with decision makers on how this can be accomplished and how we would roll it out. We are looking at a lot of different things and we are talking to a lot of people. It’s not a decision I would make alone. There are other people who would have to be involved with it.”

Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez, who chairs that MPO board, has expressed similar concerns over whether such a merger would be fair to all parties. Martinez has repeatedly stated that he has not yet seen sufficient assurances that a merger would not have an adverse impact to Brownsville-area transportation funding for projects already in the pipeline.

“We want to make sure the governing documents would be complementary to all,” Cannon said. “We would be looking to each one of the governing boards to review them and make comments. We want to make sure no one is short of any funding they have received previously.”

Pedro Alvarez, district engineer for TxDOT’s Pharr District, has compiled estimates that show a unified Valley MPO stands to receive an additional $110 million in formula-based federal funding administered by TxDOT over a 10-year period. But even more money for transportation projects could be up for grabs with a merger. “There are other funding categories that are not formula-based that are at the discretion of TxDOT,” he said. “If the Valley united there is a strong possibility the Valley would be able to compete for more of that funding as well.”

A Valley-wide MPO would become the fifth largest in Texas, just ahead of El Paso. Proponents say that would mean the South Texas region would have more clout when funding and projects are reviewed by TxDOT. The merger has received support from the Texas governor’s office, Texas Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., as well as most congressional and state elected officials representing South Texas. The ball is in the court of local elected officials, who will make the final decision.

“We at TxDOT are not in the position to mandate or require a merger,” Alvarez said. “We are responsible to provide the facts and the information and the local elected officials will ultimately have the final say.” He said he expects transportation projects currently in the individual MPO 10-year plans would not be at risk.

John Wood, chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District Board of Commissioners and a member of the Brownsville MPO board, while acknowledging the concerns of the Brownsville mayor, said he would like to see the merger move forward sooner than later.

“I would be supportive of the merger because it would give us a unified, larger voice in Austin,” he said. “There’s no reason we can’t come together with a good governance so no one is left out in the cold.”