Butler County commissioners opened a public hearing to receive comments on the 2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME entitlement programs and to outline the application process and schedule. Olivia Linderman, the county’s community development administrator, told commissioners the hearing was the first HUD-required public hearing for the 2026 entitlement program and reviewed the programs and timelines.

The hearing matters because CDBG and HOME are federal entitlement grants intended to assist low- and moderate-income persons and areas; county officials and residents used the hearing to discuss how those federal dollars should be prioritized locally.

Linderman said the county, as an urban entitlement jurisdiction, receives an annual formula allocation directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and occasional additional funds when Congress allocates them. "This hearing is to provide information to the public as well as to take public comments and answer questions about the upcoming 2026 Community Development Block Grant Program and the Home Program," Linderman said. She outlined the application schedule: the application process will open August 29, applications will be accepted online through November 1 at 4 p.m., and the county will host an application workshop on September 9. Submitted applications will be reviewed by the Consolidated Planning Committee, which will make funding recommendations to the board; the board of commissioners will make final selections and submit them to HUD for approval.

County staff summarized the county’s use of CDBG and HOME over the past five years. According to the materials Linderman presented, the county awarded about $6,100,000 in CDBG funds and $4,500,000 in HOME funds over that period. Of the CDBG dollars, roughly $4,000,000 was for public-improvement projects. Of the HOME dollars, Linderman said nearly $2,000,000 was awarded for acquisition and rehabilitation, about $1,000,000 for new construction, and more than $1,100,000 for down-payment assistance — totaling about $11,000,000 over five years.

During public comment and later board remarks, Commissioner Carpenter said the county "missed the intent" of the CDBG program by prioritizing public improvements and infrastructure over housing. "That doesn't get us housing," Carpenter said, and urged shifting the county’s focus to housing to address local affordable-housing needs. A county administrator noted CDBG’s broader allowable uses and said that detailed discussions comparing CDBG and HOME uses could follow, including whether to reassess the board’s strategic plan for how entitlement funds are allocated.

No funding decisions were made at the hearing. The board opened and closed the HUD-required public hearing to receive public comment and will take up applications and funding recommendations later this year after review by the Consolidated Planning Committee.