Missoula County releases housing-and-community-development survey, frames HOME and CDBG grant opportunities

Missoula County staff presented results of a housing and community development survey on March 18, saying the questionnaire was designed to guide HOME and CDBG funding applications and to identify community priorities.

“We received 702 responses,” Heidi West, grants and community resources program staff, said during the presentation. The survey was open for three weeks and used email, social media and posters distributed to communities including Frenchtown, Lolo and Seeley Lake for outreach.

County staff said the survey was structured around two federal block grants: the HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME), administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Kayla Talbert of Missoula County’s grants and community resources department said the survey questions were limited in scope so responses would match the eligible uses for those funding streams.

The top three communitywide priorities reported in the survey were neighborhood renewal activities (including trash cleanup, sidewalks, streets and neighborhood parks), community economic development support (job creation, retention and training) and financing or subsidizing construction of multifamily and single-family housing. Staff noted differences between city and county respondents: county respondents ranked wastewater and water system expansion higher, while city respondents prioritized sidewalks, curbs and gutters.

Survey demographic highlights presented by staff included that 52% of respondents reported living outside Missoula city limits and 48% within the city; 65% said they were employed or self-employed and 31% identified as retired. Staff cautioned the methodology was not scientific and that respondents were disproportionately homeowners (78% homeownership in the survey vs. 59.7% in the 2023 census comparison).

On housing-specific questions, respondents ranked high upfront costs for buyers and renters and a lack of diverse housing types as top challenges. The highest-ranked housing resource needs countywide were resources to help homeowners remain in their homes and rental-assistance resources such as security deposit help and application assistance for renters. For housing development needs, county respondents prioritized infrastructure funding (water, sewer, roads, lighting) while city respondents put developer incentives for affordable units first.

Public commenters tied the survey to specific grant requests and program ideas. Barb Kosauskas, board president of Old Hellgate Village, said her community hopes to apply for a CDBG to help upgrade an onsite septic system. Ruth Burke, executive director of the Human Resource Council, complimented staff on turnout and said her organization is interested in partnering on owner-occupied rehab loans, HOME tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA), and workforce-development proposals that could use federal funds.

Staff said full survey results, the presentation and a recording will be posted at missoula.co/grantsurvey, and that the county will accept additional public comment through April 3 via the Missoula Voice platform. County staff encouraged partners to contact the grants office for follow-up.