The City of Carroll continues to move forward with checking off requirements for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) on owner-occupied housing rehabilitations. At Monday’s meeting, they approved another application item with a local buy-in. Region XII Housing Programs Coordinator, Karla Janning, has been working with the city and explained how important matching funds are in the scoring used for grant approval.
Janning says this is the sweet spot they have seen that maximizes points on the application. In Early and Auburn, they started with four grants, but completed six and in Manilla, they asked for six and did nine. Small town application matches typically range from $500 to $2,000, and Janning says this is an extremely good return on their investment.
Jefferson was her highest scoring application in one year with a match of $3,800 per project. Janning says no matter the local buy-in, however, the grant award amounts remain the same at $37,500 per project. Janning also explained to Mayor, Dr. Eric Jensen, she would be working to expand on the numbers again with Carroll as she has done with the other communities.
The council approved a match amount of $2,000 each, a total of $10,000, for the five-project application, which, according to Janning, will not increase if more homes get added. A public hearing is scheduled for April 22 to complete the necessary steps in the grant application, which is due by April 26. Award notifications will be made in August of this year.
