Lot repaving, home repairing included in Eau Claire's proposed grant budget

Andrew Dowd, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·3 min read

Apr. 12—EAU CLAIRE — The city is getting slightly less from federal grant programs used to help low-income residents this year, but two local organizations are poised to see their allocations rise.

Eau Claire will get $534,975 from the Community Development Block Grant program and $314,860 from the HOME program, according to a proposal shown Monday to the City Council.

While Eau Claire is receiving the same amount of HOME funds as it did last year, there is a 4% cut — about $25,000 — in the city's CDBG funding.

Local community agencies that have perennially received CDBG money to support their ongoing programs and services will still get funding, but slightly less than 2021.

"We still anticipate funding those we funded last year," Keith Johnathan, executive director of the Eau Claire Housing Authority, said to the council.

Those services are run by Bolton Refuge House, Catholic Charities, Children's Service Society, Chippewa Valley Free Clinic, The Community Table, the Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley, Lutheran Social Services and Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council. With a few hundred dollars cut from what each got previously, they are seeing reductions of 1.8% to 5%, according to the proposed CDBG budget.

However, Bolton Refuge House and the Hmong Association are both getting new funding for facilities projects.

Bolton Refuge House, a domestic abuse shelter located downtown, is slated to get $36,000 to repave its parking lot and make its entrance handicap-accessible.

The Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association is poised to get $25,000 in CDBG funding to rehabilitate housing it rents at low rates to low-income households. Those repairs include replacing drafty windows, fixing plumbing leaks and updating electrical items. According to the organization's grant application, the six units it owns provide housing to 53 people. The average household income for their tenants is less than $23,000 a year.

Meanwhile, a city-run home ownership program is proposed to get less CDBG money this year. That program buys single-family homes in need of repairs, fixes them up to meet building codes and makes them available to low- to moderate-income households to buy. Last year the local program received $157,000 in federal CDBG money, but is slated to get $56,475 this year.

A Housing Authority program that provides rental assistance to low-income tenants is also proposed to get less federal grant money this year through the HOME program.

Instead of the $151,145 it got last year, the rental assistance program is slated to get $100,000 in 2022 in federal HOME grants.

The difference is going to the Hmong Association, which plans to expand its affordable housing offerings.

The HOME program gave $47,229 to the association last year to grow its housing stock, but is poised to give $98,374 toward that in 2022. In its application for the higher funding level, the association stated it plans to buy a new property with two units to rent, which will be used as transitional housing for domestic abuse victims.

During Monday's public hearing on how the city proposes to spend its incoming CDBG and HOME money, Johnathan was the only person to speak to the council.

The proposed budget for those monies is in a monthlong public comment period. Residents can submit written comments or call the Housing Division at City Hall by May 9.

On May 10, the City Council is scheduled to vote on the budget for the CDBG and HOME monies.