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Disbursement of block grant funding could be altered by Tom Boyle [email protected] Cities across the Commonwealth may take a financial hit if the budget proposed by President Bush changes the way Community Block Grant (CDBG) funds are distributed. According to Mike Allyn, executive director of the Titusville Redevelopment Authority, there is a proposal in the Bush budget to take the CDBG money away from its present configuration and shifting it into 18 other programs under the auspices of the Department of Commerce. Currently, Allyn said, the funds are allocated through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). �If they do that,� said Allyn, �it remains to be seen what the bottom-line impact for Titusville would be.� One likely change may be the receipt of funds through a competitive process rather than through a process of entitlement, he said. As it stands now, each city in Pennsylvania receives annual CDBG funds. Allyn explained the three largest cities in the Commonwealth, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Erie, receive these funds directly from HUD. Other cities are awarded money for their municipal programs based on an allocation formula. But if the change goes into effect, Allyn said it would be less certain funding would be available for local projects every year. �I�m confident we could submit an application each year,� said Allyn. �But there is no certainty we would get the money.� This would particularly hurt multi-year projects in which funding must be received throughout the length of the project. The way such programs are administered, municipalities get half the money for the program one year, the other half the next. Add a comment |
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