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Finance committee hears plan to reallocate leftover CDBG and HOME balances to park projects
Summary
City finance committee discussed a resolution to move remaining Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds from completed or abandoned projects into active park projects including Elm Park, Newberry Park and Memorial Park exercise facility; no vote was recorded during the meeting.
Councilmember Liz Meeley on April 8 presented a resolution to revise past annual action plans and transfer leftover Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME balances into active park projects so the city can spend older federal funds that remain open from prior program years.
Jamie Schroeder, a CITECOG consultant, said the amendment is “part of our continuing effort to clean up funds in the city.” She told the committee leftover money from an economic sustainability recovery project (project 19200) will be moved into Newberry Park; Elm Park will receive funds previously assigned elsewhere; and the Memorial Park Exercise Facility’s remaining balance of just over $19,000 will move to Elm Park.
The proposed reallocation is intended to bring older program years into active use so the city can meet federal deadlines. Schroeder said HUD is “getting tighter and tighter” on how long grantees may keep funds open and that roughly six years is now the typical allowable window to complete activities tied to an entitlement grant.
Committee members asked for a clearer, single summary of Elm Park’s total funding to date. Schroeder and other staff said Elm Park currently shows roughly $1,150,000 in the project account depending on remaining engineering fees and that previously authorized construction work was in the neighborhood of the mid-$900,000s. Staff said any leftover funds in Elm Park after construction would become available for reallocation to newer projects.
Valerie Fessler of community development and other councilmembers framed the shifts as routine housekeeping: when a project closes with a balance, the municipality moves those funds into other eligible, underway projects so the money may be spent quickly rather than creating new activities that could delay expenditure and risk noncompliance with HUD rules.
No formal vote or roll call on the amendment was recorded during the committee meeting; staff said the resolution will proceed through the committee process. The committee moved on to other agenda items after the discussion.
