HUD housing grant to be reduced
By Janice L. Habuda NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 01/29/08 6:56 AM

Improvements to the Town of Tonawanda’s housing stock will continue this year, but with less money to do it, the town’s community development director told lawmakers Monday.

James Hartz briefed the Town Board at its afternoon work session on the action plan for monies expected from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The plan must be submitted by Feb. 11 for the funding period that runs from this April 1 through March 31, 2009.

“We are basically continuing the same programs that have been established,” Hartz said, with the primary focus on housing.

Since 1978, the town has received about $78 million in community development block grants from HUD, Hartz said. That first year, the town received block grants totaling a little more than $1.52 million.

During the past three decades, “A bulk of the funds . . . went to public improvements,” he said; about $23 million. “Another big chunk has been home repairs,” he added; some $20.2 million.
The town has been notified that it will receive about $75,000 less this year than in 2007, Hartz said. Block grants totaled almost $1.93 million last year; this year, it will be about $1.86 million.

Similarly, the town’s allocation from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, a HUD program designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households, also is decreasing. The town will receive $345,003 this year, compared with $361,509 last year.

This year’s budget for the residential rehabilitation program comprises $700,000 from block grants and $250,000 from HOME, Hartz said.

More than 500 people are on a waiting list for rehabilitation loans, dating back to 2000, Hartz said.

Under the action plan, $750,000 is budgeted for property acquisition and demolition.

Another $50,000 is for a loan program that will cover 10 firsttime home buyers, Hartz said.

The budget also includes funds for community policing.
What do they mean by "home repairs"?

Do they mean residents homes?