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Council briefed on proposed CDBG-DR reallocation, Housing Recovery Board split on multi-family funds
Summary
Council previewed a substantial amendment to the city's CDBG-DR action plan that would shift disaster-recovery dollars toward single-family home repairs; staff said the Housing Recovery Board voted 6–4 against reallocating multi-family dollars and council asked for more data on state program capacity, priority-one eligibility and applicant attrition.
City staff on June 4 briefed Asheville City Council on a proposed substantial amendment to the city's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) action plan that would reallocate federal disaster-recovery funding to increase single-family home repair dollars.
The amendment described by staff would move funds from the multi-family construction program and infrastructure program into the single-family home repair program to increase the city's capacity to deliver home repairs to disaster-affected households. Staff said the change would bring the single-family repair allocation toward the $22.2 million range as the city accounts for pipeline applicants and attrition.
Why it matters: The reallocation would reshape how the city balances investment between repairing privately owned single-family homes and funding multi-family developments intended to increase deeply affordable housing. At a June 3 meeting, the Housing Recovery Board voted 6'to'4 to not support reallocating any multi-family dollars, signaling disagreement among recovery stakeholders ahead of Council action.
Council members pressed staff on the interplay between the city's plan and the state-run Renew NC program. Staff said the state has logged roughly 7,000 Renew NC applications, of which 3,000'to'3,500 appear to be qualified; the state is still working through that pool and currently lacks funding to fully satisfy demand. Staff advised that some applicants have already been served by nonprofits or faith-based groups, which contributes to attrition in the state applicant list.
Staff characterized the implementation as a two-step process: a short-term transfer of city-held CDBG-DR dollars to increase single-family repair capacity now, and a later recalculation of the overall repair program total as attrition and additional funding sources become clearer. Council asked staff for follow-up information showing how the city will honor prior commitments to fully fund repairs, what additional funding streams might be available, and data on how many applicants were served through other partners.
Staff also clarified the CDBG-DR priority-one (phase one) eligibility: households at or below 60% area median income (AMI) that also include a child, elderly, or disabled person.
Next steps: Staff said the public comment period on the amendment is open through June 14, the Infrastructure Recovery Board will consider the amendment on June 23, and Council is scheduled to take action on June 23. The briefing did not include a council vote; staff will return with more detailed follow-up materials, including public-comment summaries and data about program prioritization and state coordination.
"We theoretically have enough funding to cover all 110 — now I believe it's 106 — applicants in the city of Asheville," City Manager D.K. Wesley said as staff described the options and acknowledged uncertainty in final totals. "We'll have another opportunity to look at where the total lands."
