Arizona Community Development Block Grant Funds

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For Rural Arizona Communities of Less than 50,000 Persons

HUD Community Development Block Grant funds flow from HUD to the Arizona Department of Housing every year. A block grant is a federal grant made by formula every year, so that grantees are given discretion to undertake specific activities.

Funding is determined by a formula based on need as determined by US Census data released every 10 years. In 2002, rural Arizona received $11.4 million. In 2003, Arizona is expected to receive approximately $13.2 million in part because of rapid population growth occurring from 1990 to 2000. At least 10 percent of the State of Arizona's CDBG funds are set aside for colonias projects.

As shown, CDBG funds flow annually from HUD to the state. From the state, funds go through regional councils of governments then are distributed to rural local and county governments. Local and county elected officials decide which projects to fund locally. Nonprofits must apply through to their municipality or county government for funding.

Once local or county governments decide on priority projects for CDBG funding, their respective council of governments provides technical assistance with the application process and make recommendations to the state as to which CDBG applications should be funded, based on that region's "method of distribution". The "method of distribution" is determined by the government entities that make up the respective council of governments. In Arizona, some "methods of distribution" are competitive. Others are entitlement, meaning that each locality gets a fixed share of funding. Still other "methods of distribution" are mixed, having a combination of the two systems. Please contact your regional council of governments for more information about the "method of distribution" in your region.