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We Mean Business. Illinois Business. |
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Bush targets development grants for budget cuts again By KERRY L. SMITHLocal community development agencies will be hit hard again if the Bush Administration budget passes as proposed. The budget, recently delivered to Congress, contains a 33 percent cut in community development block grant funding for the upcoming fiscal year. This is the latest in a steady decline of funding beginning in 2001. CDBG funds, under the federal umbrella of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are primarily used for public facilities like street work, sidewalks, water lines and sewer lines in eligible neighborhoods. Eligibility is determined by income levels. Another major focus of CDGB funds is to assist the poor and elderly with housing rehabilitation. Cheryl Jouett, director of Community Development for Madison County, has seen her funding drop by about 25 percent since 2002. "We used to get over $4 million," Jouett said. "In the past five or six years, [continue] | ||||||||||
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