$856K in federal funds allocated by Bloomington city council

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council approved an annual resolution that authorizes allocations from the Community Development Block Grant program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This year, the total estimated grant amount is $855,868, with $556,314 going to physical improvements $128,320 going to social services and $171,173 going to administrative costs.

The city works with estimates based on the previous year’s actual funding through the CDBG program.

HUD sets percentage maximums for social services (15 percent) and administration (20 percent). The amounts this year reflect Bloomington’s typical practice, which is to max out both of those categories.

Examples of physical improvement projects that were allocated funding this year are Centerstone’s replacement of the sprinkler system at 645 S. Rogers ($200,000) and Summit Hill Community Development Corporation’s installation of a playground, playground wall, and fencing at the new Early Learning Center ($168,528).

Examples of social services projects that were allocated funding this year are Community Kitchen’s ongoing support free meals service program ($19,600) and New Leaf New Life’s efforts to provide direct assistance to people who have been incarcerated, to help them transition back into the community ($18,550).

Giving the staff presentation to the council on Wednesday night was interim director of the housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department, Anna Killion-Hanson.  [Added at 4:16 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2024. Killion-Hanson emailed city councilmembers with some information to address questions that she was not able to answer on the fly during the meeting. Here’s a link: Killion-Hanson’s emailed message.]

The approval of the resolution was not controversial for councilmembers. But some of them expressed an interest in reducing the administrative allocation and coordinating the CDBG allocations with the Jack Hopkins social services program.

The Jack Hopkins program, named after a former city councilmember, is funded through a general fund budget appropriation each year.

Since 1991, the city council has allocated a total of $31.7 million in CDBG funds. But councilmember Dave Rollo noted an overall decreasing trend for the annual awards.

By the B Square’s count, from 1991 through 2004, the mean of the city’s CDBG annual allocation was $1.06 million. For the period between 2005 and 2020, the mean dropped to $812,000.

Rollo called for addressing the decreased federal funding through increases in funding to the Jack Hopkins social services program. The Jack Hopkins awards are supported by city general fund money. But Rollo pointed to the $323,000 that was allocated in the 2023 budget for Jack Hopkins funding as reflecting essentially a flat-line trend, which has not kept pace with inflation.

In the 2024 budget, adopted by the city council last fall, the Jack Hopkins program was allocated $350,000.

Councilmember Matt Flaherty agreed with Rollo about the idea of increasing Jack Hopkins funding. Flaherty was also interested in the idea of reducing the amount of CDBG funds that are allocated to administrative costs, suggesting that the money could be awarded to additional projects, with the administrative costs funded out of general fund dollars.

The idea of coordinating the grant awards from CDBG  and Jack Hopkins funds also got some air time at Wednesday’s city council meeting. Many nonprofit agencies apply for grants through both programs.

Each of the programs has a resident participation component, with committees that are established for both programs. The applications for both programs typically exceed the amounts available by a significant margin.

Physical Improvements

• Centerstone: $200,000 for the project of replacing the sprinkler system at 645 S Rogers.
• Summit Hill Community Development Corporation (SHCDC): $168,528.20 to install a playground, playground wall, and fencing at the new Early Learning Center.
• Life Designs Inc.: $86,515 to replace the siding at Housing Options 1, 1814-1856 S Covey Ln.
• New Hope For Families: $52,500 for installing solar panels on family shelter units at 1140 S Morton St.
• Monroe County United Ministries (MCUM): $48,771 for modular office spaces and new flooring at 827 W 14th Ct.

Social services

• Community Kitchen: $19,600 to support the agency’s ongoing program—free meals service.
• New Leaf New Life: $18,550 to provide direct assistance for formerly incarcerated individuals and advocate for their transition back into the community.
• Beacon: $18,450 for the Friends Place Emergency Shelter project.
• Middle Way House: $18,400 for the New Wings Emergency Domestic Violence Shelter project.
• Hoosier Hills Food Bank: $18,350 to purchase food for distribution.
• Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard: $17,900 in support of the Food Pantry Program.
• Monroe County United Ministries (MCUM): $17,130.20 for the Compass Early Learning Center project.