Falls Housing Authority and city in dispute over Community Development Block Grant funding

Mar. 26—The pleas for help caught most members of the Niagara Falls City Council by surprise.

They listened intently as children, teenagers, young adults and program leaders from the Packard Court Community Center, operated by the Niagara Falls Housing Authority (NFHA), implored the city lawmakers to restore what they described as annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for after-school school and summer camp programs. Funds that they said are being slashed from the city's draft action plan for 2024 CDBG resources.

"If you don't have these programs," one youth leader told the council members, "these kids will just be running the streets."

But there are disputes between the city and NFHA over whether the funding should continue and whether it is needed to operate the after-school and summer camp programs.

"We've been receiving (CDBG) money for decades," Niagara Falls Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Chair Maralynn Giancola said on Tuesday. "And it provides critical services for our community."

The housing authority's most recent allocation of CDBG funds came in April 2023. City Council members approved a recommendation from the Department of Community Development for a grant of $113,000 to NFHA in the city's 2023 action plan.

That funding was targeted for programming at the Packard Court Community Center. Yet the city says that money was never spent.

"It was approved over nine months ago, and (the housing authority) hasn't signed the contract yet to receive the money," Mayor Robert Restaino said.

The money, the mayor said, remains in the bank, unspent. Restaino said when the city makes its yearly application for federal block grant funds, one of the critical aspects of the review by officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is how, and whether, the previous year's funding was spent.

"(HUD officials) look at the programming and the auditors look at whether the funding was spent," the mayor said. "They look to see if we are spending the money in a timely fashion."

Programming and use of available funds are also factors that staff in the city's Department of Community Development look at in formulating the draft action plan.

"The applications (for CDBG funding) come in and the staff grades them and puts together a proposed plan," Restaino said. "That plan is then put out for public comment."

The 2024 draft action plan was published on the city website on March 1. Public comments on the plan will be received until April 2, when the city council will hold a public hearing on the draft plan.

After that, the council can amend the plan recommendations before giving them final approval.

The current draft plan recommendations include grants for Heart Love & Soul, Community Missions, Pinnacle Services (Casey and Passage Houses) and the YWCA of Niagara. There is also proposed funding for the Girl Scouts of WNY, the Niagara Falls School District, Niagara Area Habitat for Humanity, Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, and several city-backed projects.

The draft plan does not recommend funding for the housing authority. Restaino said he plans to meet soon with Giancola to discuss the matter.

Giancola admits that the housing authority hasn't spent its 2023 grant, but said, "We have not received a contract for the money yet." She said the authority reached out to the Department of Community Development in October and was told they were "working on" the funding contract.

The housing authority chair said 2023 expenses for Packard Court Community Center programs were paid for with "other funds." Giancola said the authority is hopeful to receive its 2023 grant and restore a grant recommendation for 2024.

"We look forward to continuing our partnership with the city," Giancola said. "These are vital services for our residents."