FORT SMITH -- President Donald Trump wants half of Fort Smith's $856,000 in Community Development Block Grant money so he can start work on the wall between the United States and Mexico.
In recommending city directors approve the block grant expenditures for next year, City Development Services Director Wally Bailey informed city directors Tuesday passage of the federal government's 2017 budget would reduce block grant money by 50 percent.
Bailey said he learned of the proposed cut after a study session last week when directors discussed funding recommendations. Fort Smith and other cities around the country received notice the next day from National Community Development Association Executive Director Vicki Watson.
"President Trump sent a FY17 supplemental request to Congress yesterday [March 28] seeking funding to pay for the border wall, including $1.5 billion from FY17 CDBG funding," Watson wrote.
Watson wrote she believes congressional leaders don't want to consider money for the border wall in 2017 for fear of a government shutdown. To be on the safe side, she encouraged association members to express to congressmen their opposition to cutting the block grant program.
The government isn't operating on a budget but on a continuing resolution expiring April 28. On that date, the government would run out of money unless Congress extends the resolution or passes a budget.
Bailey said if the cuts go through and block grant program money drops from $3 billion to $1.5 billion, money for each block grant program would be reduced by half.
Community Development Advisory Committee Chairman Genia Smith said in a memorandum the Trump administration's budget proposal for 2018 includes elimination of the block grant program and the Home Investment Partnership Act program.
The Home program, for which the directors approved $308,315 Tuesday, provides federal down payment assistance to income-qualified homebuyers; pays for construction of new homes; and pays for acquisition, rehabilitation and resale of existing houses to qualified homebuyers, Community Development Director Matt Jennings said.
Together, the block grant and Home programs provide about $1 million to Fort Smith each year for housing assistance and services to residents who have low and middle incomes.
The money has a ripple effect on the local economy, Jennings said, providing jobs for contractors and tradesmen who purchase material from local businesses.
"We touch many people's lives with this money," Jennings said Wednesday. "It has an impact."
He said 1,588 people in Fort Smith received services under the Community Development Block Grant program in 2015, and 129 people received assistance under the Home program.
Under the resolution that directors passed Tuesday, block grant money went to 12 organizations to provide a variety of services.
Smith noted in her memo nearly $174,000 in block grant money will go the Next Step Homeless Services to build two single-family transitional homes in existing neighborhoods.
Other appropriations included $15,000 to the Crawford Sebastian Community Development Council to fund a dental clinic program Forgotten Smile; $11,000 to the Good Samaritan Clinic for medical fees for qualified patients; $10,000 to the Riverview Hope Campus for utility bills; $27,000 for a privacy fence and mattresses for the substance-abuse treatment facility Harbor House; and nearly $50,000 for new flooring and a bathroom at the Fort Smith Children's Emergency Shelter.
NW News on 04/06/2017