Hartford holds public hearing on HUD consolidated plan as nonprofits urge more housing, business and senior-meal funding

City of Hartford officials on April 21 presented a draft five-year consolidated plan and the city's 2025-26 annual action plan for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development entitlement grants and heard two hours of public comment from nonprofit and resident speakers urging more housing and service funding.

Cheryl Horowitz, director of the Office of Central Grants Administration, told the council the city will submit its annual action plan for the program year starting July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026, "on or around 05/15/2025." She said the draft consolidated plan has been posted on the central grants department website since April 11 and is available for public review through May 12, 2025, and that allocation amounts would be posted on April 22. "Every five years is a new time; it's five years of which we're going to plan for what the funding that we get from HUD," Horowitz said, stressing the plan is based on resident input gathered at multiple meetings and outreach events.

The consolidated plan structures the city's use of HUD entitlement funds under four formula programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME). Horowitz said the city is preparing for an assumed 3% funding cut from the prior year but will revise allocations if HUD awards differ by 25% or more, a threshold set in the city's citizen participation plan.

Public commenters used the hearing to press for larger awards to housing and supportive services and to highlight the local role of small nonprofits.…