Council approves Edmond’s 2025–2030 CDBG consolidated plan and 2025 action plan with emphasis on housing rehabilitation and nonprofit services

The Edmond City Council approved the City of Edmond’s five‑year Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) consolidated plan for 2025–2030 and the city’s FY2025 annual action plan after a final public hearing. Staff said the city’s FY2025 CDBG allocation is $464,673 and the plan will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by the August 15 deadline. The council voted 5–0 to approve the plan.

Christie Batterson, the city’s director of housing and community resources, presented the plan, saying Edmond is an HUD entitlement community and that the allocation formula considers the number of lower‑income residents, age of housing stock and other factors. Batterson summarized the plan’s four broad strategies and 25 tactics developed through a housing needs assessment completed in 2023 and through the citizen participation committee’s yearlong work.

Staff emphasized housing rehabilitation and homebuyer assistance. Batterson said the city expects to devote the bulk of its money to the owner‑occupied housing rehabilitation program and to homebuyer assistance grants (up to $14,999, representing 50% of a down payment). The city also set aside infrastructure and neighborhood investments: $75,000 for targeted infrastructure improvements (safe routes to school, lighting, connectivity), $10,000 for a neighborhood tree program and $10,000 for Metro Fair Housing Council to handle discrimination complaints. Nonprofit public‑service allocations total about $70,000 and will be divided among applicants including Edmond Mobile Meals, Project 66, the Hope Center (rental assistance) and the Edmond Public School Foundation (roughly $20,000 this year for a school food pantry).

Batterson said Edmond will also use about $300,000 in prior‑year HUD funds (the “HUD Bank”) to increase the 2025 budget to $799,591. “We don’t get a lot, so we try to make the most out of our money that we receive,” she said, noting the citizen participation committee recommended the allocations after a 30‑day public comment period that generated no written comments.

Batterson cited local housing data in the presentation: a rising share of cost‑burdened households (about 25% of households are cost‑burdened; roughly 12% are severely cost‑burdened), increasing low‑ and moderate‑income share (about 34.6% citywide) and an aging housing stock (about 60% built before 2000). Income eligibility limits for CDBG services under the current year’s guidelines include $54,750 gross for a single person and $78,000 for a family of four.

Councilmembers thanked staff and the citizen participation committee for the plan’s work and said monitoring and compliance with HUD rules would be important. Batterson noted the city has had clean HUD audits in recent years.

With council approval the city will submit the consolidated plan and annual action plan to HUD and begin implementing the funded activities through city programs and subrecipient agreements with local nonprofits.