San Marcos mayor: City will ‘vigorously oppose’ Trump’s proposed cuts

Austin American-Statesman (TX)

May 26--The loss of a federal development grant program that has been a cornerstone for fast-growing Central Texas cities, especially those recently struck by historic flooding, would be "devastating" for San Marcos, Mayor John Thomaides said Thursday.

The Community Development Block Grant Program, which provides funding for urban development projects, including disaster relief, is among a plethora of programs on the chopping block in President Donald Trump's 2018 budget proposal released this week.

In Trump's preliminary budget document, the Office of Management and Budget said the program "has not demonstrated results."

"The Federal Government has spent over $150 billion on this block grant since its inception in 1974, but the program is not well-targeted to the poorest populations," the preliminary budget read.

Thomaides, however, said he strongly disagreed and added that the city would "vigorously oppose" its proposed elimination, as it has in the past with proposed cuts.

San Marcos receives $500,000 annually from that U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant. That funding has supported an array of projects, including serving 117 children last year in the CASA child advocacy program and helping 107 people at the Hays-Caldwell Women's Center. Grant funding has also paid for rehabilitating 14 homes through Southside Center and St. Bernard's Project and providing 70 scholarships to low-income children in city parks programs.

Earlier this month, HUD announced it was awarding San Marcos an additional $7.7 million in Community Development Block Grants for disaster recovery from the 2015 floods. That was on top of $25.08 million in flood relief that had been announced in February 2016.

That money has allowed the city to launch a housing program to begin repairing and rebuilding flood-damaged homes for low- and moderate income residents.

"The city has received significant benefit from the Community Development Block Grant program," Thomaides said. "We've touched many lives, and we've improved our community through various infrastructure projects in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, including health and safety improvements as well as quality of life improvements like parks and sidewalks."

Trump's proposed budget instead calls on state and local governments to cover community and economic development projects. But Thomaides said that suggestion is unrealistic.

"It would devastate our budget," Thomaides said. "We wouldn't be able to fund public safety, we wouldn't be able to fund our normal everyday operations, road improvements. It'd just be impossible. Or unlikely without issuing additional debt."

The Community Development Block Grants announced earlier this month also included $15.6 million to the state of Texas for 2015 and 2016 flooding repairs in Travis, Hays, Harris and Hidalgo counties.

___

Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.