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City presents HUD CAPER showing CDBG spending focused on public facilities; affordable housing not funded this year
Summary
City staff presented the annual CAPER to the council, reporting more than three-quarters of last year’s CDBG funds went to public facility infrastructure and that staff will propose reallocating $177,406.80 in excess funds.
City staff presented the annual CAPER (Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report) to the Sierra Vista City Council, reporting that more than three-quarters of last year’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds were applied to public facility infrastructure and that the program provided $39,597 in subrecipient funding to nonprofit service providers.
Matt McLaughlin, presenting the CAPER, said the city completed Soldier Creek Park improvements that were in the 2022 action plan and substantially completed fire-hydrant installation in the Montebello neighborhood. McLaughlin reported the hydrant work had cost $184,608.20 and finished in July, under the original estimate. He told council staff will present an action item at the October meeting to amend the 2024 annual action plan and reallocate $177,406.80 in excess funds to another activity.
The CAPER, prepared using HUD’s template, also documents demographic information about beneficiaries and required program administration. McLaughlin said program administration accounted for 3% of overall CDBG expenditures, consistent with prior years. He thanked Michelle Landis, the city’s grant administrator, for assisting with the report.
Council members asked for clarifications about program metrics and outcomes. When a council member asked about a column of figures in the CAPER, McLaughlin explained the numbers represent expected beneficiaries and that the household is the metric used for the city’s housing-rehabilitation estimates. He noted that, for the current consolidated planning period, the city expects to assist 10 households through future housing-repair activities.
On affordable housing: a council member noted the CAPER’s housing column showed zeros. McLaughlin said CDBG funding in Sierra Vista has historically been concentrated on housing repairs for low-income households because the city’s annual entitlement is relatively small compared with larger entitlement jurisdictions that undertake larger housing projects. “We get a quarter million dollars a year,” McLaughlin said, explaining available funds are limited and substantial housing projects would require augmented funding.
Council members asked whether unobligated or reallocated CDBG funds could be redirected to housing in future years; staff said funds obligated to a specific project could be reallocated if not used and that the city has previously partnered with Cochise College and donated lots to support site-built single-family affordable housing outside the CDBG program.
Next steps: staff will bring a formal action item to the council in October to reallocate excess funds identified in the CAPER, and will finalize beneficiary and income data for pending projects that remain to be entered into the report.
