Corona Council approves 2025–2029 HUD consolidated plan, new annual action plan and HOME-ARP increase

The Corona City Council voted 5-0 to approve the 2025–2029 HUD Consolidated Plan, the 2025–2026 Annual Action Plan and to accept an increase to the city’s HOME-ARP allocation following a staff presentation and a public hearing. Councilors moved to approve the proposals after receiving a staff report and hearing public comment from nonprofit representatives.

The consolidated plan bundles the city’s strategic priorities and the annual use of HUD entitlement grants including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds. Homeless and Housing Solutions Manager Karen Roper and the city’s HUD consultant, Clint (LDM Associates), told the council that the plan was built over a year of data analysis and community outreach and that nearly 2,600 resident survey responses informed priorities.

Roper said the plan sets funding strategies across affordable housing, community facilities, public services and infrastructure and includes a 2025–2026 action plan with specific projects and a NOFA (notice of funding availability) for public services. The action plan staff recommended funds public-service contracts for one year with an option to renew for up to four additional years, subject to HUD funding availability and performance metrics.

Key program elements presented to the council included continuation of the tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) program, preserved through an existing contract with Mercy House to aid eviction prevention and housing placements; a proposed update to the residential-rehab program guidelines to raise the forgivable loan cap to $50,000 for single-family homes (0% interest, 20-year forgivable loan); and an added mobile-home grant program intended to help low-income mobile-home residents with deferred maintenance and space-rent vulnerabilities.

Consultant Clint explained HUD HOME rules including the CHDO (Community Housing Development Organization) set-aside. The city’s HOME allocation was shown as $409,000, with the 15% CHDO set-aside amounting to about $61,000; staff said that for entitlements of this size, the CHDO set-aside is often difficult to use for new construction and that HUD typically permits reallocation to other HOME-eligible activities after the 24-month hold period when no viable CHDO partner is found.

Roper and the consultant described a competitive public-services NOFA that produced 14 eligible proposals; five scored highest and were recommended to council. During the public hearing, representatives of Christian Arts and Theater, Inspire Life Skills Training and Voices for Children spoke in support of funding recommendations and asked for continued city partnership and clarity about future application cycles.

Council members asked for and received clarifications about how award amounts were set, HUD caps on activity types, the city’s emphasis on implementation feasibility to avoid slow spending, and how TBRA can be used (including eviction prevention, up to 24 months of subsidy, and security deposits). Council asked staff to continue capacity-building assistance and to monitor performance.

The vote: council approved the consolidated plan and the action plan as presented. Staff will return to HUD with the approved documents and proceed with implementing the recommended CDBG and HOME-funded activities.

Votes at the meeting also covered unrelated consent items (see separate vote roundup).