Congress passed an Omnibus spending bill last week and now the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with other federal agencies, awaits their allocation from the Office of Management and Budget. Once HUD has their overall budget, they can notify grantees of their allocation amount and send grant agreement letters for grants like the Community Development Block Grant program. Staff has learned that HUD hopes to have the grant allocation amounts to all grantees by mid- to late June. The FY17 Omnibus spending measure requires HUD to notify grantees no later than July 3.
Once the City receives the grant allocation, the recently approved Annual Action Plan can be submitted as a part of the Urbana HOME Consortium submission online for HUD’s approval, then sub-grant contracts can be awarded to the CommUnity Matters and Senior Minor Home Repair programs. Staff in Champaign and Urbana are coordinating on this to ensure a timely submission and will work with agencies that may need pre-award costs as needed.