In Utah, $22 million flow directly to cities or through county governments to cities for such vital programs as housing for low-wage earners and other neighborhood revitalization, after-school supervision for children whose parents work, shelters for victims of domestic violence, jobs for high-risk youth and loans for home businesses.
The grass-roots programs are cost-effective, with bare-bones administration and local control. Any reduction in funding for the successful CDBG program would be a mistake. Still, there is talk in Washington of doing just that.
The worst-case scenario would lump the CDBG program with 18 others such as Head Start and provide only $3.1 billion for all of them. The current appropriation for CDBG alone is $4.7 billion, spread among thousands of local programs in communities across the country.
Administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, it has worked so well in its 30-plus years that mayors of cities all over the country are rightly up in arms over such rumblings within the Bush administration.
Fortunately, 55 senators, both Republicans and Democrats, are as concerned as the mayors. They have written a letter urging appropriations committees to fully fund CDBG for fiscal year 2006. We add our encouragement to theirs, not only for the coming year's budget but for subsequent years as well.
The program is a mainstay for millions of middle- and low-income people and for the nation's economy. CDBG housing projects assisted 168,938 households in 2004, and its public service projects served 13.3 million people. Economic-development programs using CDBG funds in 2004 created or retained more than 90,000 jobs. More than 80 percent of the businesses assisted through the program were still operating after three years.
Cities have been creative in using CDBG funds to meet their residents' needs. In Layton, homes built by high school construction classes are sold to low-income people, with the city retaining ownership of the lots they sit on. The owners keep half of the equity they build up and many are later able to purchase larger homes on their own.
The CDBG program has proved its worth, and it should be allowed to continue working.
