How Yorba Linda uses federal grant program

Of the dozens of documents and thousands of pages of reports prepared by Yorba Linda's municipal employees each year, some of the most interesting deal with the identification of needs and use of funds from the federal Community Development Block Grants program.

Conceived during Richard Nixon's presidency and implemented with bipartisan support in Gerald Ford's term, grants have totaled $144 billion since 1974 and now go to 1,209 local governments. Yorba Linda has received a bit more than $3.2 million since 2003.

The most recent Yorba Linda grant report details the use of $247,570 in the 2013-14 fiscal year – the second in the city's current three-year program cycle – and was forwarded on a 5-0 City Council vote to the Housing and Urban Development department in November.

Grants “assist communities in providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and in expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income,” noted city Economic Development Manager Pam Stoker in a 53-page report to the council.

Report highlights:

--Up to $5,000 each assisted 12 low- and moderate-income single-family home owner-occupants “meet local codes, standards and ordinances and for general property improvements of a non-luxury nature.”

--Close to $32,000 was spent on the hot lunch program for senior citizens (age 62 or more) weekdays at the Community Center, serving 309 seniors, down from 328 the previous year and less than the 500 expected. Cost is $3 for 60-plus and $5 for 59 and younger.

--No applications were received to rehabilitate historically significant commercial buildings, so some $88,000 was shifted to improve disability access in local parks. One Main Street rehab started with last year's funding was completed during the year.

--Accessibility projects begun the previous year were completed at Eastside Community, Brush Canyon and Jessamyn West parks, with the year's nearly $39,000 allocation. Up- grades at Hurless Barton Park used dollars transferred from commercial rehabilitation.

--About $42,500 was spent on general administration; preparing budgets, applications, certifications and agreements; coordinating and monitoring programs; and writing annual action and performance evaluation plans.

--The Orange County Housing Authority coordinates the city's Section 8 rental assistance, with 95 participants out of an estimated 573 income-eligible households, including 87 voucher holders (18 family, 56 elderly and 13 disabled). A five-year goal is to issue 1,850 vouchers yearly to extremely low- and low-income residents.

--The city contracts with the Fair Housing Council of Orange County for services. Of the 66 files including allegations of discrimination in 2012-13, just one involved a Yorba Linda case.

--An estimated 874 renter and 1,677 owner households in Yorba Linda spend more than 30 percent of income for housing and utilities, defined as a “housing cost burden.”