CDD debates $3.5M budget

The Ann Arbor Community Development Department is preparing to choose which essential services it will provide in the coming year.

The department is anticipating a budget of about $3.5 million for fiscal year 1997-98. Monday night, the CDD and Ann Arbor City Council met to discuss how spending priorities will be chosen.

The CDD will be giving its actual proposal to City Council in January. The budget will likely be approved in early Spring.

On Monday, the CDD submitted a list of "urgent needs" in a number of areas, including aid to senior citizens, temporary housing for the homeless, and efforts to decrease truancy among students.

"There's a whole array of needs that have been identified," Crockett said. She stressed that the term "urgent needs" means the city wants to take a proactive approach to these problems. She said all budgetary needs are "critical" and "basic."

CDD Director Eileen Ryan said the budget is insufficient to cover the city's needs in many areas, especially in helping the homeless.

"The indication we have now is a very large, unmet need," Ryan said.

The issues involved are broad. Crockett said the goal of homeless prevention alone ties in with mental health and substance abuse programs.

"What really struck me was how inter-related these issues are," said Councilmember Chris Kolb (D-5th Ward). As applied directly to homelessness, he said, "Not only is housing an integral part, but also the support services" of medical, legal and mental health services.

Housing Policy Board member Larry French said many goals, such as those intended to reduce homelessness, can be attacked in one action.

"If you have more affordable permanent housing, it trickles down to help the homeless," French said. A supply of subsidized housing allows room for the homeless population to move up while keeping housing costs in Ann Arbor down, he said.

Much of the funding will be redistributed to local non-profit groups. The CDD works with about 50 such groups, Ryan said.

About $2 million of the budget comes in community-development block grants from the federal government. Ann Arbor gets two such grants, a HOME grant that must be spent on permanent low-income housing, and a Community Development Block Grant to be spent on other services for low income and homeless people.

Last year, $50,000 of the $3.5 million budget came directly from the city. The rest came from the state government, Washtenaw County and private donations.

Another issue is the reduction of direct benefits due to the Welfare Reform Act. "We're just beginning as a community to feel the effects of this," Crockett said.

Councilmember Tobi Hannah-Davies (D-1st Ward) said she thought the local impact may be seen on families with children.

"It requires you to work to get the money, and it requires you to have the skills to get the jobs," she said.

Childcare expenses often drive families over the brink, she said.

"I believe there are many homeless families," Hannah-Davies said.

12-10-97