Board reviews Community Development committee recommendations after HUD allocations announced

The Fort Smith City Board of Directors reviewed the Community Development Advisory Committee's recommendations for the city's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships program on April 28, with staff reporting final HUD allocations.

Candace Gabucci, the city's director of community development, told the board that HUD had provided final numbers and that the packet figures were correct. "The CDBG funding came in at $7,728.74, and the home funding came in at 36705407," she said, and offered to answer questions from directors.

Board members focused on how the funds would be used and how the city notifies potential applicants. Director Neil Martin said he had urged exploring economic development uses and encouraged broader outreach because the funding category is new for that purpose. "I think with it being something new that has never been there before, I think there might need to be some different ways in which we... go about advertising that," Martin said.

Gabucci said the city opens its funding cycle each December and advertises via a newspaper notice, the city's Facebook page, GovDelivery and a stakeholders mailing list. She also said the city had received mostly public-service applications and that HOME funding is limited: "With $367,000, you can imagine that that doesn't go very far for affordable housing," she said.

Gabucci explained that while HUD allocations were largely flat this year, the city experienced an effective reduction when new grantees sign up for the federal formula program: "we actually ended up taking about a 40,000 cut," she said. She added staff has asked state representatives to seek a higher HUD cap on public-service expenditures, currently set at 15 percent, because many applicants request funds for immediate needs such as food, childcare and transportation.

Greg Rigo moved to place the committee's funding recommendations on the board's next regular meeting agenda; the motion was seconded and recorded on the study-session minutes. Staff said it would provide additional context, including which other Arkansas cities receive HOME funding.

Next steps: the board directed staff to return the funding package to the next regular meeting and to provide a list of other cities receiving HOME funds, plus any additional outreach plans to attract economic-development applications.