Community Development Administration outlines ARPA, HUD and disaster-recovery spending; extends NOFA amid tornado response

Noel Pfeffer, executive director of the Community Development Administration, briefed the Budget and Public Employees Committee on May 28 about CDA’s recent scaling, current funding portfolio and disaster-recovery priorities.

Top line: Pfeffer said CDA has been appropriated more than $400 million in funds between 2020 and 2024 and has made more than $100 million in housing awards that leverage roughly $750 million in private investment; CDA reported more than 3,500 housing units complete or in development. Pfeffer said CDA’s schedule of federal awards rose from about $19 million in 2020 to $59 million in 2024.

Disaster recovery and home repair: CDA described a $25.8 million flood recovery award from earlier hurricanes/floods and an allocated $7.8 million for home-repair programs in that flood recovery action plan. Pfeffer said the 2022 flood award’s home-repair funds can be used for properties that have a demonstrable tie to the 2022 flood even if they were also affected by the recent tornado; CDA staff are prioritizing launch of the home-repair program but cautioned that each HUD-funded repair requires an environmental review, which can slow deployment. Pfeffer urged the creation of a local source of home-repair funds to speed aid because locally funded repairs are not subject to the same HUD environmental-review requirements.

NOFA and housing programs: CDA said it has several open funding opportunities and has extended the application deadline for multiple NOFAs from June 13 to July 14 to allow proposers time to respond after the tornado. Open rounds include a $6 million affordable housing production NOFA and $4.9 million for permanent supportive housing. Pfeffer described a HUD-backed “pro-housing” approach that identifies city-owned sites, budgets and program constraints to stimulate competition among developers rather than funding unconstrained individual proposals.

Other federal and local funds: Pfeffer detailed funding streams administered by CDA, including CDBG (about $18 million annually), HOME (about $3 million annually), HOPWA, ESG and ARPA, plus EPA Brownfields and New Markets Tax Credit activity. He said ARPA administrative funds are included in CDA’s personnel schedule and that ARPA grant commitments are near 85 percent spent. Pfeffer flagged an anticipated appropriation request to reappropriate roughly $5 million of prior CDBG funds that were not previously appropriated and said CDA will bring a pro-housing appropriation ordinance for about $7 million.

Process and timing: Pfeffer walked the committee through CDA’s consolidated plan and annual action plan process: a public hearing in July, RFPs and selection in August–September, legislative appropriation in October–November, HUD action plan approval and then contract execution and draws. He noted HUD timelines and the need to draw funds locally while awaiting HUD grant agreements.

Community services and performance: Pfeffer highlighted that CDA documented thousands of residents served in program areas including home repairs, job training, senior services and after-school programming. He also said CDA had no single-audit findings for 2024 and recently published a 2020–2024 impact report.

What the committee can expect: CDA listed forthcoming legislative items including the pro-housing appropriation, a reappropriation of unallocated CDBG dollars and the FY26 annual action plan. Committee members asked for updates about available business support in tornado-affected areas; CDA said staff are performing outreach and will provide data about business assessments and program contacts.