Over roughly a month – now through July 10 – the public has an opportunity to weigh in on how the City of Covington should spend about $2 million in federal funds aimed at housing and community development.
The money represents the expected annual allocation from the CBDG and HOME federal grant programs which are provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The drafts available for comment include the one-year Annual Action Plan for the CDBG and HOME Program (which is done every year), as well as the Five-Year Strategic Plan, an update of long-term goals that happens every five years.
“The Annual Action Plan and Five-Year Strategic Plan are our guide to investing these federal funds to both make people’s lives better and strengthen our neighborhoods,” said Jeremy Wallace, the City’s Federal Grants Manager.
A public hearing will take place on Tuesday, June 24, just prior to a scheduled City Commission meeting.
View the PY 2025 Consolidated Plan – Annual Plan – DRAFT for Public Comment at www.covingtonky.gov.
To submit written comments, email Wallace at jwallace@covingtonky.gov or call him at 859-292-2147.
CDBG program
The Community Development Block Grant program is earmarked for a wide variety of services and programs – primarily in low- and moderate-income areas – such as street and streetscape infrastructure, park improvements, crime prevention, parks and recreation, code enforcement, economic development, and early literacy programs.
$1,409,780 million in federal allocations is available this year in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.
The HOME program
To spend money in the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Covington is part of a consortium that includes the cities of Ludlow, Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Erlanger, Florence, and Independence.
The HOME budget includes $672,734.30 in federal allocations in Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) funding.
The HOME program typically funds a variety of housing-related programs, including forgivable loans to help people buy homes and funds to create new affordable housing units for homeownership and rental.
City of Covington