Akron finalizing its budget for $8.59 million in mostly federal housing, development aid

The city of Akron's Department of Planning and Urban Development has recommended a nearly $8.59 million budget for a 2024 Consolidated Action Plan for affordable housing and community development, with the bulk of the proposed budget coming from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding.

The proposed budget includes the following federal allocations: $5,849,932 in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), $1,482,466 in HOME Investment Partnerships and $527,670 in Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG).

The recommended budget also includes an additional roughly $725,000 in program income, according to a document supporting the proposed budget ordinance signed by city Planning Director Kyle Julien. That portion would come from payments from loans that the city has issued over multiple decades for various projects, Helen Tomic, the city’s long range planning manager, told Akron City Council’s Planning & Economic Development Committee on Monday.

Every year, the city creates a new action plan, with the 2024 plan bookending the implementation of a five-year strategy that began in 2020, per the ordinance.

The city must approve a budget and submit it to HUD by Aug. 16, according to the supporting document. City Council, however, traditionally does not schedule to meet during the month of August. It convenes twice more before the recess, on Monday and July 29.

HUD notified Akron city officials of the 2024 funding allocations in May, Julien told the Beacon Journal last month.

Since last year, HUD’s funding to the city for CDBG decreased by 2.6%, its funding for city HOME funds decreased by 14.9% and its funding for city ESG funds decreased by about 0.2%, Tomic said.

She said the decreasing amount of funding from HUD stems from U.S. congressional decisions.

What will the money be used for?

An executive summary of the proposed plan states that the city plans to provide neighborhood revitalization grants and loans, assist nonprofit housing projects, facilitate new housing construction, acquire and remove blighted properties, demolish blighted structures for no charge at property owners’ request, assist and rehouse the homeless and ensure fair housing.

Other initiatives, according to the summary, are assisting businesses, supplying “matching grants and loans to businesses for exterior improvements” under the Great Streets Akron program, continuing the Community Services Program (CSP), supporting community development corporations, funding vacant city lot improvements with community gardens and providing general administration.

Mar-quetta Boddie, executive director of Summit County Continuum of Care, a nonprofit working to prevent and end homelessness in the county, told the committee on Monday that she supports the city's plan to use ESG funds to fund homeless shelters and housing rehabilitation.

“We’ve seen a 33% increase in first-time homeless this year," Boddie said. "We have a huge influx of individuals who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness.”

Malinda Sampsell, associate vice president for financial stability and health at United Way of Summit & Medina, told the committee that CDBG CSP funding provides about 20% of the operating budget for the Akron Financial Empowerment Center (FEC). Founded in 2019, the FEC is a partnership between the city and the nonprofit.

As of June, Sampsell said, “we have 4,828 individuals and their households on the path to financial empowerment here in Akron. And a lot of that again has to do with again the CDBG CSP funds.”

Rochelle Sibbio, president and CEO of Habitat of Humanity for Summit County, told the committee: "In speaking on the HOME Partnership funds, we have utilized, since 2010, $1.31 million of HOME funds to support building approximately 27 affordable homes using Habitat’s zero-interest mortgage platform."

Sibbio added that "that’s what makes a home an affordable opportunity for families that are on the low-income scale at at least 30% up to 80% maximum" of area median income.

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.