Arlington Hts. keeping most of block grant money

Area agencies and village commissions requested more than $700,000 in federal block grant funding from Arlington Heights, but the village will get only about half that much, and most of what it has will go to village’s own programs.

The village board will hold a hearing March 7 to vote on how to spend $358,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding it is receiving this year.

When allocating the funds, the board generally follows the recommendations the village’s Department of Planning and Community Development. According to those recommendations, about $300,000 of the funding should be used for village projects.

Charles Witherington-Perkins, director of the planning department, said $150,000 of the $300,000 will pay off debt for the purchase and remodeling of the Arlington Heights Senior Center.

The village decided in 1998, when bonds for the project were issued, that half the repayment would come from budget’s general fund and half from community development grants. That plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1996, a report from the village said.

The recommendations also call for the village to claim another $88,200 to loan single-family homeowners with restricted incomes for residential repairs, and another $71,600 for administering and monitoring the grants.

The homeowner loans are a good program because they represent liens against the properties and are repaid when the houses are sold, said Witherington-Perkins.

Grant funds received from the federal government have been declining over the years, according to the village. The grant program requires that a large percentage of the funds be spent on bricks-and-mortar or construction projects, rather than for services.

“The village faces the perception that it is a lower priority area for funding because it is a suburban, rather than urban environment and because of the median income level of the village’s population, the village report states. “The perception of lack of need does not account for the village’s rising senior and immigrant populations.”

The Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, known as CEDA, would receive $20,000 — the most of any private organization — if village trustees follow through on staff recommendations. The funding would subsidize day-care costs for children of low- and moderate-income single-parent families.

The Suburban Primary Health Care Council, which contracts with doctors to provide basic health care to low-income, uninsured residents, would get $10,200.

Other recommended allocations include: $5,000 for the Arlington Heights Park District’s Children at Play program; $1,500 for beginning classes in English as a second language for Northwest Suburban High School District 214; $1,500 to Children’s Advocacy Center for child abuse services; $1,750 to Greater Wheeling Area Youth Outreach for Dream Makers and Summer Camp South; $1,500 for Resources for Community Living; $2,000 to WINGS Program, Inc. for housing and supportive services; and $1,500 for Escorted Transportation Services.

Journeys from PADS to HOPE would receive $2,250 for homeless services; Northwest CASA $500 for sexual assault counseling and crisis intervention; and Faith Community Homes would get $500 for supportive housing.

Philip Herman, executive director of Greater Wheeling Area Youth Outreach, said the recommended allocations are not surprising.

“It’s never been a significant part of our funding,” he said. “It helps us do a little more, a little bit extra. It does not support our core. Historically they have always had a pretty strong commitment to Children at Play and CEDA.”