Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Grants Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Grants chief warns HUD funding uncertainty could threaten affordable-housing and service payments
Summary
Department of Grants and Community Development reported 2024 drawdowns and reimbursements but told the Community Development and Human Services Committee that continued federal uncertainty and limited communication from HUD are creating anxiety among subrecipients and may imperil future awards.
Mayor’s Department of Grants and Community Development Commissioner Deborah Lennon told the Community Development and Human Services Committee in February that the city completed substantial reimbursements in 2024 but faces unpredictable federal support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Lennon presented 2024 and early-2025 figures and described ongoing work to close out prior program years while preparing for the annual HUD notice of funding availability. She warned that the city is receiving limited information from HUD and described both the operational steps the department is taking and the anxiety among service providers.
Why it matters
The department manages Atlanta’s entitlement grants — Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) — that fund affordable housing, homelessness services, and community programs across the city and metro region. If federal allocations change or awarded funds are not accessible, programs that pay for housing assistance, utility support, and nonprofit operations could be interrupted.
What the department reported
• In 2024, DGCD paid subrecipients and other expenses totaling $15,856,400.22 from CDBG funds; through Feb. 20, 2025, CDBG reimbursements to date totaled $301,264.37. • HOPWA reimbursements for 2024 totaled $28,219,139.80; through Feb. 20, 2025, the department had paid $2,841,183.17 in reimbursements. • ESG reimbursements for 2024 were $1,022,346.26; through Feb. 20, 2025, $59,529.19 had been paid. • HOME reimbursements for 2024 were $5,518,997.76; through Feb. 20, 2025, $989,062.70 had been paid. • Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) closeout work continued; DGCD reported $909,966.85 in payments in 2024 and none in 2025 while awaiting HUD guidance.
Lennon said the city drew down $46,154,490.37 from HUD in 2024 to reimburse itself for payments it funded with general revenues, and that drawdowns in early 2025 had grown by approximately $1.6 million since the slides were prepared.
’We are complying with the scope of our executed contracts,’ Lennon told the committee. ’We are providing services to the residents as indicated, that we are doing everything that we have contracted to do with HUD.’ She added: ’I cannot, however, say, have no fear the funds won't be recaptured in light of the current political climate. We do not know exactly what will happen from day to day with funds.’
Questions from council members
Councilmembers pressed the department on what grantees are hearing and what the city is telling them. Lennon said staff are receiving frequent inquiries — especially from HOPWA sponsors and long-running multi-year awardees — who ask whether they will be reimbursed and whether future awards will be made.
’We are not hearing from HUD,’ Lennon said. ’We don't really have firm answers. We don't have definitive answers for them because we ourselves are not receiving definitive answers.’
Councilmember Dozier and others urged the administration to pursue regional partnerships and state contacts to help shore up services if federal funding is reduced. Lennon said the administration is collecting and submitting data and advocating with federal and national advocacy organizations.
Department next steps and NOFA timing
Lennon described the typical annual schedule: HUD releases allocations in March–May; DGCD issues a notice of funding availability (NOFA), provides applicant training, accepts and reviews applications, and then forwards recommendations to the mayor and council for approval. She said DGCD is preparing to use existing data to target funding to highest-need areas and noted the consolidated plan process required by HUD is underway.
DGCD also said it has revised its appeals and applicant communications processes after last year’s delays, and that Director Genevieve Jones has implemented checks to reduce missed communications to applicants.
Ending
Committee members asked DGCD to provide more regular updates to council on the status of federal communications, a breakdown of which subrecipients are most exposed to the current uncertainty, and copies of NOFA materials when released. Commissioner Lennon said the department will continue to inform the committee and work with council offices to distribute applicant guidance.
