Berkeley County council approves 2025 CDBG recommendations and requires scope adjustments within 365 days for cut awards

Berkeley County Council accepted staff recommendations for the 2025 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding allocations and approved an amendment that requires projects receiving less than their requested amounts to adjust project scope to match awarded funds or secure the remaining funds within 365 days.

A county staff presenter described the CDBG process and said the program received 33 applications this year and recommended funding for 26 projects that met the low- and moderate-income (LMI) benefit threshold (projects must benefit at least 51 percent LMI persons). The presenter said a 20 percent administration fee had been taken out of the allocation; amounts recited in the public transcript were fragmented and partially unclear.

Councilman Jones moved an amendment that requires projects that receive less than their original request either to amend the project scope to match the awarded funding or to secure the balance within 365 days; failure to meet that requirement would result in the awarded funds being returned to the CDBG program for future projects. Council approved the amendment by voice vote. The main motion to adopt the board’s funding recommendations also passed by voice vote.

The presenter listed example funding recommendations (for example, Grace Impact Development Center had requested $199,000 and was recommended for $75,000) and noted recommended reductions for fire department awards to spread funds among more departments. The transcript did not include the full, line-item allocation table in machine-readable form; amounts beyond the examples cited should be verified with the county’s written recommendation packet.