Community Development
Duties and Responsibilities of the Department
- Prepare the Five Year Consolidated Plan and Strategy and the One Year Action Plan
- Prepare meeting materials for the Citizens Advisory Committee
- Review proposals submitted by Department Heads and Public Agencies requesting funding
- Prepare applications to solicit funding for the city from the state, federal government and/or private agencies
- Prepare monthly, quarterly and/or annual reports required by HUD or other agencies
- Conduct public hearings
- Maintain current population information
The Community Development Department administers the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and other federal and state grants for Community Development and Housing. CDBG is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was established in 1974. Its primary objectives are to provide decent housing, a suitable living environment and to expand economic development opportunities. The national objectives are to benefit low- to moderate-income individuals, to prevent or eliminate slum and blight, and to meet urgent community development needs within the community.
CDBG has been the backbone of improvement efforts in many communities, providing a flexible source of annual grant funds for local governments nationwide – funds that they, with the participation of local citizens, can devote to the activities that best serve their own particular development priorities, provided that these projects either (1) benefit low- and moderate-income people; (2) prevent or eliminate slums or blight; or (3) meet other urgent community development needs.
The grant funds are allocated according to relative need on the basis of the higher of two formulas. The first considers the presence of overcrowded housing in the locality, its population and poverty rate. The second considers the housing age, population growth lag and poverty rate.
