Evansville staff open 30-day public comment on 2024 CAPER showing federal grant spending, housing projects

Haley Hale, community development coordinator for the City of Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development, presented the city’s 2024 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, or CAPER, at a public meeting on Aug. 22, 2025. The CAPER summarizes activities and expenditures for the program year that ran from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, and starts a required 30-day public comment period before the city submits the final report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“The CAPER reports on agency outputs and the outcomes using the accomplishment data provided in the monthly monitoring reports,” Hale said, describing how data from IDIS, HMIS and SAGE are compiled to compare planned versus actual results. She said the city will post a rough draft of the CAPER at evansville.in.gov/cdfederalprograms and that paper copies are available at the Department of Metropolitan Development office in Room 306 of the Civic Center.

The presentation listed headline allocations and accomplishments. Evansville received $2,615,366 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for 2024, of which about $315,000 (the 15% public-services cap) supported roughly 18 public-service programs. Hale reported that CDBG-funded public- and non-public-service programs and projects served an estimated 28,000 individuals and households across the city. Non-public-service activities included infrastructure, housing rehabilitation and public-facility work; direct beneficiary counts for some programs were lower because larger capital projects serve fewer households per dollar spent.

Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding totaled $230,712 across nine programs, Hale said, and those programs served “well over 2,000 people,” with more than 29,000 meal or laundry uses reported. Hale cautioned that some homelessness-related numbers were still being finalized from HMIS and SAGE.

Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) funds for 2024 totaled $637,537.22; Hale said HOME is mainly used for affordable-housing development and gap financing and that awards are timed to projects becoming “shovel ready.” She described several active or pipeline HOME projects: a rehabilitated single-homebuyer unit at 618 E. Delaware by Hope of Evansville; a 71-unit Cedar Trace rental rehab by Gratus, supported with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits plus HOME gap financing; and a 119-unit Dale Haven Estates rental rehab. Potential projects still in predevelopment that could require HOME gap funds include new construction and scattered-site projects by Advantix and Vanixen House Investments and others contingent on tax-credit awards expected in November.

Hale also reported on HOME-ARP and CARES Act carryover funds. The city received $2,739,593 in HOME-ARP, and she said about 16% of that amount remains to be expended; most HOME-ARP dollars funded two large rental developments (Baker Flats and Promise Home) and remaining funds are earmarked for tenant supportive services, administration and monitoring. Evansville received multiple rounds of CDBG-CV and ESG-CV under the CARES Act; Hale said ESG-CV is fully expended and about 6% of CDBG-CV remains.

Hale described nonfederal work the Department of Metropolitan Development helps facilitate. The Affordable Housing Fund Advisory Committee, which recommends use of the local housing trust fund, met and approved about $1 million in funding this program year (up from previous annual levels near $500,000). She said the committee approved whole-home repairs for 13 homeowners and five development-related awards to nonprofit partners, including projects with Habitat for Humanity, Memorial CDC, Hope of Evansville and ECHO.

During public comment, resident Ted O’Connell asked which organization leads homeless-prevention work in Evansville. Hale said the Commission on Homelessness provides policy guidance tied to the Destination Home plan while Aurora operates the coordinated-entry system and serves as the primary agency for coordinated intake and shelter-referral functions. Resident Annie O’Dean asked about use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in a scattered-site Advantix project; Hale said DMD staff are not the TIF administrators and recommended contacting the redevelopment commission and related TIF meetings for specifics. Hale and commenters noted that Advantix’s ability to proceed also depends on state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit decisions expected in November.

Hale closed by inviting questions during the 30-day public comment window and confirming the draft CAPER would be uploaded to the city website for review. The presentation began the city’s formal 30-day public comment period required before submitting the CAPER to HUD.

Copies of the CAPER draft, Hale said, are available online at evansville.in.gov/cdfederalprograms or in person at Room 306 of the Civic Center.