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Committee reviews CDBG and ARPA amendments; city to reprogram repaid HUD funds
Summary
Community development staff asked the finance committee to approve moving prior-year Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and coronavirus-era funds into current projects, explained HUD repayments and reprogramming rules, and described several projects that will use the funds.
Williamsport's finance committee on May 20 considered resolutions to amend multiple years of the city's CDBG and CDBG-CV annual action plans so previously obligated or repaid funds can be reprogrammed into current projects.
Valerie Fessler of the community development department and Jamie Trotter, who prepared the amendments, explained that HUD monitoring required the city to repay some funds that were determined ineligible. "When the funds are repaid, then they go back into the year that they were taken from to be reprogrammed as long as that year has not already been closed out," Jamie Trotter said. Staff said that because the affected program years remain open, the repaid monies can be moved to other eligible projects.
Committee members asked about a $7,000 allocation previously mentioned for the SPCA. Trotter said the SPCA payment had not been spent and the repayment process restored flexibility to reassign funds. Several projects were identified for reprogramming, including rehabilitation projects with leftover balances and Newberry Park work funded with CDBG-CV funds that must be spent by next year. "In Newbury Park, we're spending all our money because it's CV money. You need to have it spent by next year," said Valerie Fessler.
Separately, staff presented a minor amendment to transfer budgeted amounts within the CDBG-CV administration and project categories. "This is a minor amendment because we're not eliminating anything. We're not adding anything new," Trotter said; staff described it as an administrative budget reclassification that can be handled by resolution and system update.
Committee members requested that the agenda language be corrected to include 2021 among the years covered by the substantial amendment (staff agreed to update the council agenda to list 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022). No formal votes were recorded at the finance committee meeting; the items will appear on the full council agenda for approval.
