Milton Rahman, P. E., a professional engineer, can help you determine whether changes to your landscape project in Harris County, Texas, are allowed. The ratio of the natural elevation of the land (adjacent lowest slope) to the base elevation of the flood will determine if development is allowed as if it were in an area of special flood danger (100-year floodplain). If the LAG is equal to or greater than the BFE, you will process your application as if your house were not in the 100-year-old floodplain.
If the LAG is lower than the BFE, you will process your application as if your house were on a 100-year floodplain. Minimum standards for communities that drain into Harris County require downstream easements, fire lane checklists, requests for abandonment of floodplain easements, and clarification of floodplain easements. The LOMR for the West Little York Bridge over Bear Creek Petition and Determination of Acquired Rights are also necessary. The Small Watershed Restriction Calculator for Harris County, TX and Small Watershed Restriction Calculator Harris County, Texas, Phase 3 are also available.
Additionally, amended salvage depot regulations, amended regulations, property search and address map are available from the Harris County Health Department Floodplain Regulation Reference Sheet. The Harris County Appraisal District and Harris County Fire Marshal Office also provide HHW - Request for Certificate of Compliance for Household Hazardous Waste and Request for General Information Request for Harris County Floodplain Elevation Certificate. The Harris County Plains Manager and Harris County Alluvials are also available. Darrell Hahn, PE., Manager - Harris County Watershed Protection and Danielle Cioce, MS, PMP from the Harris County Engineering Department at 1111 Fannin, 11th Floor, Houston Texas, 77002 can provide additional information. If you are gardening or caring for lawns or plants, you should collect sales and use taxes. Gardening and lawn and plant care services include any work you do to maintain or improve lawns, patios, and ornamental plants and trees.
Gardening and lawn care are not taxable when purchased by a contractor or homebuilder as part of upgrading a building with a new residence. This exclusion applies to the construction of model housing and speculative housing to be sold for residential use, but not to improvements that will be used as offices. For example, taxes must be paid for the gardening of a sales office, even if it is located in the residential development. If you design a new residential structure for a contractor, you are responsible for billing and collecting taxes until the contractor issues a certificate attesting that the service is part of an improvement of a building with a new residential structure. If it is later determined that the work is not tax-exempt, the person who issued the certification will be responsible for paying the tax. You must separate the charge for tax-exempt professional services from any charge for taxable landscape services, or the total charge will be presumed to be taxable if the taxable portion is greater than 5 percent.
Give a resale certificate to the supplier when you purchase fertilizers, plants, flowerbed trims, herbicides and processed soil, sand and gravel used to care for taxable gardens or lawns. Landscape services do not include the construction or repair of terraces, retaining walls, fences or pools, or the installation of underground sprinkler systems. If your property is outside of a special flood risk zone, Harris County will need a complete residency application, an accurate site plan, and a full affidavit. In a lump sum contract (a single quantity for materials and labor), the landscaper pays taxes when purchasing the materials and does not collect taxes from the customer.
