The Newark City Council Finance Committee voted 5-0 to authorize the mayor to prepare and submit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) one-year use-of-funds action plan and an application for fiscal 2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

City staff said the application is the annual submission HUD requires and that the amount Newark will receive for 2026 is not yet known. “This is the annual application. We always come in the fall to present legislation. At this point in time, we do not know what the 2026 allocation will be from HUD. I will tell you that this year, our allocation is $745,133, and the money just came in today,” a city staff member said.

The resolution (25-60) directs the mayor to prepare the required HUD documents and submit the city’s application under 24 C.F.R. §91.202 (the federal rule cited in the meeting). The committee approved sending the measure on to the full council with a unanimous vote of 5-0.

Discussion at the committee was procedural: staff described the annual nature of the filing and that the precise 2026 allocation will be determined by HUD. No formal spending decisions were made at the meeting; the action before the committee was to authorize the application process and plan preparation only.

The committee’s vote advances the city’s ability to apply for CDBG funds when HUD announces the 2026 allocation and lets staff begin drafting the one-year use-of-funds action plan required by federal regulations.