Claudelle Rose,

Program Manager

Sierra Marrero, AICP

Assistant City Manager

Issue Statement:

On March 9, 2026 the City received notification from the Broward County Housing Finance & Community Development Division for the 50th Program Year (October 2026 – September 2027) of an allocation of an estimated $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for capital improvements, in addition to $30,000 in funding for public service organizations. The CDBG funding process involves an application for the following fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2026.

Recommended Action:

The City Commission conduct a public hearing and then select the two public service organizations for funding and adopt a resolution authorizing the proper City Officials to execute appropriate documents to submit the 52nd Year Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application to Broward County, and subsequently to accept the US. Department of Urban Development’s (HUD) final appropriated grant funding on behalf of the City.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awards grant funding through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. Cities qualify for CDBG based on their low/moderate income population. The funds for non-entitlement cities (cities under 50,000 population) are given to the County to be granted to the cities. To qualify for CDBG funding, the City is required to advertise for proposals and hold two public hearings.

With City Commission approval, the City will be submitting a CDBG funding application for a public infrastructure project for improvements to City Park. In addition, the City has the option to submit projects for public service. The funding for public service projects can be used to fund projects for public service organizations, but it is not a requirement that these projects be funded. On March 13, 2026, the City published a Notice of Public Hearing that informed interested parties of a public meeting on the proposed City infrastructure project and solicited proposals from non-profit organizations serving the residents of Oakland Park that may wish to seek funding through the CDBG Program. The City Commission meeting is the 2nd public hearing.

Staff held a public hearing/workshop on March 23, 2026, to discuss the 52nd Year CDBG Program funding cycle and allocation of funding for both municipal and public service organization projects. Public service organizations were given the opportunity to discuss the application process, eligibility requirements and proposed projects. Citizens were given the opportunity for input. At the meeting, staff presented their plans to apply for improvements at Community Redevelopment Agency Improvements: West Dixie Sidestreet Streetscape Improvements on Northeast 35th Street and Northeast 36th Street between Dixie Highway and Northeast 11th Avenue. 

The minimum CDBG allocation for each public service project is $15,000, per Broward County, and no more than 15% of the total funding allocation, or $30,000, is available for the Public Service category.  The City engaged a consultant, Complex Systems Innovations, LLC, the same firm that evaluated the applications for the last CDBG cycle, to evaluate the applications based on the quality of proposals.

Upon notification of such award by the City, the City’s application for the infrastructure project, together with the two (2) public service organization applications, will be submitted to Broward County for review and approval. Thereafter, the responsibility of reporting to the County lies with those organizations awarded grants.

Proposals from eligible public service organizations are not due until April 8, 2026, and the evaluation results from Complex Systems Innovations, LLC are not due until April 10, 2026. Accordingly, the names of the applicant organizations, the scoring, ranking, and tally results are not available at the time of publication of this agenda item. That information will be provided to the City Commission under a supplemental agenda prior to the April 14, 2026, meeting for consideration in connection with the selection of the two public service organizations to be recommended for funding.