Use of New Data to Affect CDBG Formula Allocations

A recent report produced by HUD discusses the impact of new data on future allocations of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, which entitlement communities (metropolitan areas and urban counties) and the state often use to contribute financing to preservation projects. Replacing the use of old 2000 Census data and less accurate intermediate estimates, the 2010 Census and 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) estimates will now provide data for the five CDBG formula factors: population, people in poverty, overcrowded units, population growth log (since 1960), and pre-1940 housing units. HUD looked at total FY2011 CDBG funding and examined the differences between actual FY2011 allocations and what allocations would have been using the new data. Nationally, use of new data would have resulted in communities of 100,000 to 999,999 people receiving slight increases in funding, with those or more than 1,000,000 or fewer than 100,000 seeing slight decreases. For Oregon, the new data would have resulted in an overall increase of 3.0%, with only four of the 14 entitlement communities seeing small decreases. The report stresses that the analysis does not indicate actual FY2012 allocation amounts. Nationally, CDBG funding will decrease by 12% in 2012, as a result of the FY2012 HUD appropriations bill that passed Congress in November (see November blog post). Click here for HUD’s report.

— Posted on 12/19/2011