Monterey County supervisors adopt five-year consolidated CDBG plan, approve funding with $150,000 hold on MST bus-stop project

Monterey County Board of Supervisors on May 13 adopted the county's 2025'29 consolidated plan and the fiscal year 2025'26 annual action plan for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, and authorized Housing and Community Development (HCD) to submit the plan to HUD and execute subrecipient agreements.

The action implements the county's eligibility as an urban county consortium and approves staff'recommended project allocations, while the board directed that the $150,000 proposed for a Marina bus-stop ADA project (submitted by Monterey-Salinas Transit, MST) be held in abeyance pending further review of alternative uses for that amount.

HCD program staff presented the plan and funding recommendations. Don Yanomitsu, Housing and Community Development, told the board, "We're requesting the board of supervisors accept the consolidated plan, which includes the annual action plan, adopt and authorize HCD to submit the plan to HUD, approve the subrecipient agreement template...and authorize HCD to execute these agreements." He said funding projections are based on HUD estimates and a joint urban-county agreement with participating cities; final HUD allocations will adjust recommended amounts after release of final numbers.

The consolidated plan covers CDBG allocations across public services, public facilities, and administrative costs and uses a three-year joint powers agreement to apportion funds among the urban-county members. Staff reported the county met HUD's requirement on the fund utilization ratio (a reported 1.27 this year, under the 1.5 threshold) and said that keeping projects moving and invoices processed is essential to maintaining future funding levels.

On public services, HCD said 10 applicants requested $519,575 in aggregate, exceeding the public services cap; staff recommended reallocating a portion of the county's administrative set-aside to cover one applicant so other agencies could receive more funding. For public facilities, the county recommended $156,587 toward a roofing project for Community Homeless Solutions and recommended a partial award to Gonzales for a fire engine (recommended $630,566 of a $900,000 request, drawn partly from Gonzales' urban-county allocation and partly from unincorporated county funds). Staff said sidewalk and bus-stop improvements were also part of the recommended facility awards, and that some recommendations reflect estimated HUD amounts that will be adjusted when HUD issues the final entitlement.

Supervisor Luis Alejo questioned why MST was seeking CDBG funds for a bus stop and noted MST's recent unallocated fund balance; HCD clarified that the MST application was submitted by MST (not the city of Marina) and that MST indicated it lacked capital money to complete the ADA improvements. Board members debated prioritizing limited CDBG funding for disadvantaged unincorporated communities such as Las Lomas, Pajaro and Castroville versus projects inside member cities.

Chair Mary L. Lopez moved to approve staff recommendations but hold the $150,000 slotted for the MST Marina bus-stop project in abeyance pending a follow-up process; Supervisor Alejo seconded. No roll-call of individual supervisors was read; the board's voice vote approved the motion and the action carried.

The board instructed HCD to return with any technical adjustments after HUD releases final allocations and to continue tracking project invoicing to remain under HUD's fund-utilization metric. Staff said a public notice and solicitation process had already occurred and that subrecipient agreements and environmental reviews would be executed by HCD staff once projects were finalized.

The action moves the consolidated plan and FY25'26 annual action plan forward to HUD submission and authorizes HCD to execute agreements and environmental reviews; the $150,000 for the Marina/MST bus-stop improvement remains subject to further board direction.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the consolidated plan, the annual action plan, the subrecipient agreement template, and authorization for HCD to submit and execute required actions. The board also approved recommended project awards with the one allocation ($150,000 for MST bus-stop ADA) held in abeyance pending further review.

Implications: Adoption maintains Monterey County's eligibility for HUD CDBG entitlement funding as an urban county consortium and authorizes staff to finalize contracts and environmental reviews. Board members emphasized the need to prioritize limited federal CDBG dollars for disadvantaged unincorporated communities and to keep projects moving to preserve future HUD funding.

Background: CDBG is an annual HUD entitlement program that funds community development activities. The county's consolidated plan covers a five-year period (2025'29) and includes policies for allocating budgets, public participation and project eligibility.

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