Grants staff outlines HUD Community Development funding recommendations for program year 2026

Rhys Williams of grants administration briefed the committee on recommended allocations and process steps for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development block of programs for program year 2026, including the Consolidated Plan and annual action plan. Williams said the city began a new five-year consolidated planning process this year, solicited applications and held review trainings; the RFP closed Nov. 22, 2024.

Williams said the process produced 43 applications from outside agencies and four from city departments. “As a result, out of the 43 applications, 30 applicants were awarded funding to external agencies,” Williams said, and he later explained that the 30 awards represent 23 distinct external agencies because some organizations received awards in multiple categories. Grants staff also noted that three awards went to internal city departments and that some funds were set aside for the homeless management information system.

Williams outlined the review process: applications were prescreened for completeness, reviewers were trained, and review scores and organizational-capacity assessments were provided to the Community Development Committee on Feb. 6. He said bonus points were awarded to applicants whose proposals aligned with the consolidated-plan priorities set by the committee and consultants.

Council members asked about scoring variability and the committee’s policy to treat public-service funding as highly competitive; Williams said the committee has generally used a de facto cutoff of 20 points for public-service awards in recent years. Elsa Bagle told staff she found some scoring outcomes difficult to reconcile: “The scores don’t make sense to me,” Bagle said, noting examples where higher averages did not always translate to awards. Williams and councilors discussed factors the committee considered, such as program scale, number of households served and whether organizations could access other funding sources.

Williams warned that the federal picture remains uncertain: he said HUD has advised jurisdictions not to submit action plans until federal allocations are known and that national staffing cuts at HUD’s CPD office could affect timing. Grants administration said the consolidated plan and annual action plan will be available for public comment March 3 through April, and the city must submit final plans to HUD by May 15, subject to HUD providing the federal allocation.

Committee members asked for clearer tracking of alignment between applications and consolidated-plan goals and for guidance the grants office can provide to applicants seeking to improve future submissions. Williams said applicants can request reviewer comments and that grants administration routinely provides feedback on application deficiencies.

No final appropriation or council vote on allocations occurred at the committee meeting; staff’s recommendations will proceed through the Community Development Committee process and later to the council for final action contingent on federal allocations and the public-comment process.