A budget released by the Trump Administration on Monday could affect community development in Amarillo, if it is passed into law.
According to the budget unveiled this week, President Trump plans to cut funding for several programs through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. One of the top cuts in the Trump budget would eliminate the Community Development Block Grant for the 2019 Fiscal Year.
At the City of Amarillo, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds the Community Development department. Led by James Allen, the department is charged with assisting community and infrastructure projects around Amarillo. In recent years, attention has been turned to the North Heights and to the Barrio neighborhood in Amarillo as recipients of the aid from Community Development.
At the time of this article's publication, Amarillo Community Development was not readily available for comment. However, Allen spoke at length about this topic in 2017, when the cuts to the Community Development Block Grant were proposed for the Fiscal Year 2018 budget. According to Allen, if the grant is eliminated, the Community Development department at Amarillo would essentially have no budget, causing several staff layoffs and a potential elimination of the entire department at the City of Amarillo.
Not every group in the community is sold on the proposal to eliminate the Community Development Block Grant. Amarillo Housing First president Chris Seright wrote on Facebook that he opposed the budget cuts, calling them "devastating."
"Eliminating the Community Development Block Grant will be devastating to many of the service organizations here in Amarillo who serve the homeless and those in poverty," Seright wrote on Facebook.
For more information about Community Development in Amarillo, please visit http://comdev.amarillo.gov/.
Photo by the White House