Evansville finance committee hears nonprofit pleas as city details CDBG, ESG and HOME cuts

The Evansville City Finance Committee on Tuesday heard representatives from more than two dozen local nonprofits accept most of the mayor’s proposed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and HOME allocations while urging restorations and clarifications on a handful of items.

The group’s presentations fronted requests from Echo Housing and Community Development to restore $25,000 for a final Promise Zone evaluation and from Feed Evansville for an additional $5,000 to increase a recommended allocation for the C.K. Newsome community kitchen to $20,000. Reach Out Evansville’s reentry program also asked the committee to reconsider an allocation reduction after staff said the agency submitted $25,000 as its request and the mayor recommended the same amount.

The requests mattered because city staff told the committee the federal grants are smaller than last year and must be managed to meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) timeliness requirements. Colby (city staff) said CDBG was cut by about $167,000, ESG by about $5,000 and HOME by about $56,000 from the prior year, and that the city must avoid having more than 1.5 years worth of grant funds unspent, which could put future funding at risk.

Echo Housing chief impact and finance…