City releases 2025 HUD funding plan; council to review CDBG, HOME and ESG awards amid disputes over some applicants
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Summary
The Department of Housing and Community Development presented allocations for ESG, HOME and CDBG grants for the 2025-2026 plan year, including carryovers and a planned August 10 workshop; some applicants (Aurora House, NeighborWorks) raised concerns after not receiving awards.
The Toledo Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) presented council July 8 with the city's recommended allocations for three major HUD entitlement programs and asked council to authorize submission of the 2025
consolidated plan and annual action plan.
Deputy Director Kaleena Ali summarized the grants: the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) allocation of $627,043; the HOME program allocation of $1,965,724 plus a proposed HOME carryover of $4,607,000; and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocation of $7,046,960 with a carryover request of $728,799. Ali said the award amounts come with HUD deadlines and HCD requested SEP to transmit the plans and final schedules to HUD. (Kaleena Ali, Deputy Director, HCD)
HCD staff said the recommended spending schedules were the product of an extensive application process that began in February and that the city will hold a comprehensive council workshop on July 10 to review the applications, scoring and citizen review committee recommendations. "We will be holding a comprehensive workshop for council on the tenth ... where we will be going over a comprehensive review of our application process," HCD Director Ross Clemens said. (Ross Clemens, Director, HCD)
Council members raised specific concerns. Councilwoman Vanice Williams said she received constituent complaints and asked HCD to explain why groups such as Aurora House and NeighborWorks were not funded this year. Director Clemens said some organizations were not funded in part because HUD limits CDBG spending on public services to 15% of the annual allocation and because some nonprofit applicants declined funds or could not comply with newer contracting requirements. "When we have a preponderance of applications that are for public services, some hard decisions have to be made," Clemens said. (Ross Clemens)
HCD also explained a larger-than-usual HOME carryover: $3 million of the carryover is a committed prior-year allocation for the Thurgood Marshall school adaptive reuse senior housing project that remains in the OFA financing pipeline; other portions reflect projects declined by nonprofit partners because of requirements tied to prevailing-wage/PLA provisions.
Why it matters: CDBG, HOME and ESG funds underwrite housing rehab, homelessness prevention, infrastructure and neighborhood services citywide. The 15% public-service cap on CDBG spending and program compliance requirements constrained award decisions and left some long-standing service providers without awards this round.
Next steps: HCD will present detailed funding schedules and citizen-review justifications at the July 10 workshop. Council members asked for full explanations of declined awards and the department said the HUD submission deadlines require timely action to avoid loss of funding.
