What is the city’s process for using CDBG grant money?
Step 1: Cleveland City Council’s Development, Planning and Sustainability (DPS) Committee holds hearings every February to hash out the budget with the mayor’s administration. They review past spending and make adjustments based on the estimated budget.
Step 2: The estimated budget goes through Council’s Finance, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.
Step 3: The estimated budget is voted on by the whole council, which also includes permission for the Director of Community Development to accept funds from the federal government.
Step 4: The federal government notifies Cleveland about how much money it will receive, typically sometime in March.
Step 5: CDCs are invited to apply for funding and submit reports on how they spent the previous year’s funds. More on this here.
Step 6: A subcommittee including members of the mayor’s administration, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, council staff and others review and score the applications from CDCs.
Step 7: The mayor’s administration forms recommendations for council’s DPS Committee, typically sometime in April.
Step 8: Finance Committee reviews the budget passed by DPS. It may make adjustments, but they are often minor based on final federal grant numbers.
Step 9: The whole council votes on the final CDBG budget.
