COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING COMMITTEE

CDBG AND HOME PROGRAMS

WHEREAS, the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG), continues to be the foundation upon which cities have revitalized their downtowns, developed affordable housing, stabilized neighborhoods, and provided important public services for the past 25 years; and

WHEREAS, the strength of the CDBG program lies in its local determination of need and use, flexibility, and wide variety of eligible activities; and

WHEREAS, the baseline appropriation for the CDBG program was increased to $4.8 billion in FY 2000; and

WHEREAS, the number of new "entitlement communities" still continues to rise at a greater percentage than the increase in baseline appropriation; and

WHEREAS, the inclusion of set-asides within the CDBG program has increased substantially in the past five years, from $90 million to $560 million in FY 2000; and

WHEREAS, many of the programs funded through set-asides are already eligible within the program’s guidelines; and

WHEREAS, more than $225 million in set-asides in FY 2000 is for projects unrelated and in many cases ineligible, to the basic CDBG program; and

WHEREAS, the increase in set-asides compounded with the increase in the number of eligible entitlement grantees has thereby led to a notable, yet unrecognized cut to the otherwise "increases" in its baseline appropriation; and

WHEREAS, the Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) continues to be the single largest block grant-based, affordable housing program available to cities, for the past ten years; and

WHEREAS, the HOME program is a deeply-targeted, low income program that makes it possible for citizens of all ages to reside in decent, safe, and sanitary housing; and

WHEREAS, because of its structure, the HOME program has the ability to work with other housing assistance programs, particularly the CDBG program and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to make the production and rehabilitation of affordable housing available to more Americans than ever before; and

WHEREAS, HOME is a program recognized by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the nation’s proven affordable housing production program that works; and

WHEREAS, the fact that the HOME program provides technical assistance funds to assist grantees with its proper administration is one of the reasons the program continues to prove itself worthy of continued and consistent funding; and

WHEREAS, even though the tremendous impact of the HOME program has been felt throughout the nation, the fact remains that the number and availability of affordable housing units continues to decline; and

WHEREAS, despite the fact that our nation has the highest percentage of homeownership in its history, there are still millions of Americans without a place to live,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors acknowledges that to the extent that the programs represented in the CDBG set-asides should be funded separately; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the President, the Secretary of HUD, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to increase the baseline appropriation in FY 2001 to $5 billion to accommodate the increase in eligible entitlement communities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the President, the Secretary of HUD, th U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to increase the baseline appropriations of the HOME program to $2 billion and ensure that statutorily appropriated technical assistance funding for HOME and other HUD administered programs are expended as Congress intended.