President Donald Trump's budget proposal for the current fiscal year had the city bracing for the worst, but its Community Development Block Grant allocation exceeded expectations.
The Annual Action Plan for fiscal year 2018 the Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted Tuesday night includes $456,368 in CDBG funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a 17-percent increase from the $389,355 HUD allocated the city during the previous fiscal year.
The president's budget proposal eliminated CDBG funding, but the spending bill Congress passed earlier this year increased it to $3.23 billion. The 7.8-percent bump was part of a $4.6 billion increase in HUD's budget for the current fiscal year.
The president's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 also eliminates CDBG funding. According to the budget document, the program is ineffective and duplicates services state and local governments are better equipped to administer.
Hot Springs is an entitlement city, making it among the more than 1,200 local governments that qualify for CDBG funds that are allocated according to a formula that considers population, housing stock and income statistics. Board districts 1 and 2 receive most of the money, which is directed at low and moderate-income areas.
The unexpected increase in the city's fiscal year 2018 allocation allowed the board to add $14,474 to the prioritized project list it adopted in December based on recommendations from the Community Development Advisory Committee. It added $6,000 to the $30,000 pledged to spot blight nuisance abatement, money the city's neighborhood services department uses to demolish condemned structures, and $8,474 to the $34,205 earmarked for the Malvern Avenue Gateway Corridor and District Plan.
The prioritized list of 16 projects includes $38,000 for the Pleasant Street pocket park playground. In a separate action Tuesday night, the board adopted a resolution naming the park in honor of the Rev. James Donald Rice. The Gateway Community Association petitioned the Parks and Trails Advisory Committee to name the park after Rice, the former president of the NAACP's Hot Springs chapter.
According to the group's application, Rice was instrumental in integrating the Hot Springs School District, threatening to sue the school board when it refused to enroll four African-American children at Jones Elementary School in 1962.
The prioritized project list includes $70,000 for CDBG planning and development, 46.7 percent more than the allocation for the previous fiscal year. Planning and Development Director Kathy Sellman said the increase owes to the five-year consolidated plan expiring at the end of the year. The extra administrative hours the city's CDBG contractor will log while developing the 2019-23 plan and completing the HUD-required Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Study account for the increase.
The city has 60 days from the May 4 announcement of its allocation to submit its Annual Action Plan to HUD.
The following is the updated list of prioritized projects the board approved in December. The city expects to fund all of them.
1. CDBG planning and administration -- $70,000.
2. John Lee Webb House historic preservation of porch and porte-cochere -- $62,000.
3. Spot blight nuisance abatement -- $36,000.
4. Malvern Avenue revitalization -- $42,679.
5. David F. Watkins Memorial Tunnel Park sidewalks and security lighting -- $23,903.
6. Infrastructure improvements for neighborhood revitalization and economic development -- $20,000.
7. Garden Street sidewalk improvements from Mound Street to Malvern Avenue -- $26,790.
8. Cedar Street sidewalk improvements from Whittington Avenue to Glade Street -- $10,261.
9. Bus shelter at Central Avenue and Crestwood Street -- $7,000.
10. Linden Park bathroom replacement -- $42,500.
11. Park Avenue Phase 5 revitalization -- $27,774.
12. Ouachita Children's Center roof replacement -- $22,500.
13. Homebuyer education classes -- $10,000.
14. Habitat for Humanity Oma Street acquisition, survey and clearance -- $4,350.
15. Habitat for Humanity Cones Road lots five and six acquisition, survey and clearance -- $10,200.
16. Pleasant Street Pocket Park Playground -- $38,000.
Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Study Supplemental Funding -- $2,410.
Local on 06/10/2018