Bozeman board backs CDBG FY2025 action plan, urges priority for emergency and transitional housing

The Bozeman City Economic Vitality Board voted to recommend approval of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) FY2025 annual action plan to the Bozeman City Commission, and urged the commission to prioritize funding and resources for emergency and transitional housing.

The recommendation, approved by voice vote, asked the commission to prioritize emergency and transitional housing “relative to increasing and preserving housing options” and to consider whether planning and administration dollars could be used to support activities across the plan’s categories. The motion passed with a unanimous roll-call of board members present: Sarah Savage (yes), Nathan Sykes (yes), Craig Ogilvy (yes), Mallory Peterson (yes), Albert Jones (yes) and Vice Chair Schwartz (yes).

The board heard a presentation from Bridal Fontenot, the city’s economic development director and the board’s liaison to the commission, who reviewed background on Bozeman’s consolidated plan and the CDBG funding formula administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Fontenot said Bozeman became an entitlement community in 2024 and that the consolidated plan is a five-year document that began last year.

Fontenot…