Flint, MI — The City of Flint administration plans to present a resolution to Flint City Council tonight allocating $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to home repair programs for residents.
According to a July 19 city press release, those allocations include $1.5 million to Metro Community Development, $1.5 million to Habitat for Humanity, and $800,000 to GCCARD to provide home repair services “directly to Flint residents citywide.”
Additional allocations include $175,000 to Court Street Village for house painting, $150,000 for roof repairs in the Central Park and Fairfield Village neighborhoods and another $875,000 to Habitat for Humanity for property tax, water bill and homeowners insurance assistance.
“Flint families have been asking for help with critical home repairs, and today we have a message of hope that help is on the way,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said. “If the Flint City Council approves these allocations, the administration is prepared to move swiftly to implement contracts with service providers and make these critical resources available for Flint residents.”
The release goes on to state the home repair support will hopefully “improve housing conditions, health outcomes, and mental health while decreasing the migration of people out of Flint.”
If the resolution is approved, residents will need to meet eligibility criteria to receive support under the ARPA-funded programs.
In the release, the City noted “the priority for support will be based on the lowest income and/or greatest need” and residents must also:
- Provide evidence of residence at the property for at least one year with a copy of their deed or a utility bill.
- Provide documentation of income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, which is the federally mandated ARPA household income limit.
- Be current on all City of Flint property taxes and water bills, or have completed an application for the Michigan Homeowner Assistance Fund (MIHAF).
The release does not mention whether these proposed funding allocations were the informed by the City’s ARPA Community Advisory Committee, which Councilman Eric Mays and Councilwoman Tonya Burns claimed is an illegal body in a lawsuit filed earlier today.
Instead, the release notes that tonight’s funding proposal “is the first in a series of resolutions that the administration is developing to allocate ARPA Community Grant Program funds” and that the committee “has completed its work” and submitted all of its funding recommendations to the City of Flint administration.
“These are recommendations only; the committee itself has no decision-making authority,” the release states. “The administrative team is reviewing and developing resolutions to send before the Flint City Council based on the committee’s recommendations, with some modifications. The Flint City Council ARPA ad-hoc committee is also engaged in this process.”
The City’s release promises that alongside the home repair resolutions to be put forward on July 19, the administration “is including grant application information, information about the ARPA Community Advisory Committee’s review process, and the Project Evaluation Rubric on the Flint City Council webpage.”
The page did not include that information as of press time.
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