Dallas officials say city missed HUD timeliness test for CDBG funds; council process, reprogramming planned

Dallas city staff told the Community Development Commission on Oct. 9 that the city did not meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual timeliness test for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds on Aug. 2, 2025, and described steps to regain compliance.

Shan Williams, Budget and Management Services, Grants Division, said HUD’s rule “requires that the city of, CDBG funds be spent in a timely manner, and that timeliness is tested, annually.” On slide 4 of the presentation, Williams told commissioners: “the city did not meet this requirement on 08/02/2025,” and that “the city's ratio was at 1.86. Or we are we were $4,732,000 greater than the minimum balance that HUD would allow.”

Why it matters: HUD limits a grantee’s unspent CDBG balance to no more than 1.5 times the grantee’s annual allocation; failure to meet that threshold can reduce a future entitlement grant. Williams said the city has received notice from HUD and is required to submit an expenditure forecast and a corrective plan showing how it will meet the test on Aug. 2, 2026.

What staff said they will do: Williams and other presenters described a sequence of administrative steps and program reviews. Staff will (1) submit an expenditure forecast to HUD; (2) bring monthly updates to a finance committee of the commission and to city council committees; (3) evaluate existing CDBG projects for “viability” and potential…