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Akron holds public hearing on 2025–2029 consolidated plan and $8.2 million 2025 HUD action plan
Summary
City council opened a public hearing on an ordinance to approve Akron—s HUD consolidated plan and the 2025 annual action plan, outlining roughly $8.2 million in federal and program income allocations and eliciting testimony from affordable-housing providers and residents about service capacity and unmet needs.
Akron City Council opened a public hearing July 14 on an ordinance to approve the city—s 2025—2029 consolidated strategy and the 2025 Annual Action Plan, which together set the city—s funding priorities for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) dollars administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Helen Tomic, a city staff presenter, said the 2025 budget in the plan totals about $8.2 million.
The plan allocates approximately $5,800,000 in CDBG funds (a 0.3% decrease from 2024), about $1,500,000 in HOME funds (a 0.8% increase from 2024) and roughly $514,000 for ESG (a 2.6% decrease from 2024), plus an estimated $412,000 in program income, Tomic told the council. The plan recommends continuing the housing rehabilitation program, matching dollars for the LEHI program, funding new housing development, supporting community development corporations and continuing the Great Streets and minor home repair programs.
The consolidated plan includes a narrative describing housing conditions for low-income families, people experiencing homelessness and other special-needs populations and is the city—s application to HUD for the 2025 funds, Tomic said.
Rochelle Sibio, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Summit County, told the council Habitat has used CDBG and HOME funds to make critical home repairs and to subsidize affordable homeownership. "We've used somewhere around $1,800,000 of HOME money to partner with families who are 30% to 80% of AMI," Sibio said, and described 16 homes under construction in North Hill that carry HOME subsidy contracts.
A resident who identified herself as the founder of a group called Mothers Lives Matter testified that she currently lives in an apartment she says is contaminated with mold and described ongoing health problems and difficulty obtaining repairs and medical care after moving from a shelter. She asked council members to examine who benefits from the funding and to ensure the programs serve people leaving homelessness, victims of domestic violence and others with urgent housing needs. She did not give a full name for the record; her remarks were entered in the hearing record as public comment.
Thomas Statham, a former city planning director who said he helped craft earlier consolidated-plan documents, urged the council to consider administrative capacity when awarding grants to nonprofit partners and to include program-administration funding so smaller organizations can sustain operations.
The hearing record shows public testimony in support of continuing existing programs and concern from residents about service gaps and housing conditions. The transcript of the meeting records the hearing and the testimony but does not show a final council vote on the ordinance during the portion transcribed.
Council members framed the hearing as part of the HUD application and thanked witnesses for their testimony. The hearing record includes a notice that the hearing was advertised in the Akron Beacon Journal on June 28 and on the city council website beginning June 25.
The consolidated plan will return to council for any required legislative action after staff completes any revisions or next-step recommendations, according to the hearing procedure.
