Community Development Block Grant

The Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG Program, is authorized by Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, and provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled metropolitan cities and urban counties to implement a wide variety of community and economic development activities directed toward neighborhood revitalization, economic development and the provision of improved community facilities and services.

Objectives

CDBG activities are initiated and developed at the local level based upon a community’s perceptions of its local needs, priorities, and benefits to the community. Each entitlement grantee receiving CDBG funds is free to determine what activities it will fund as long as certain requirements are met, including that each activity is eligible and meets one of the following broad national objectives:

  • Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight
  • Benefit persons of low and moderate income
  • Meet other community development needs of particular urgency

The City of Passaic uses CDBG funds to provide assistance to a number of different non-profit organizations that provide service to low-income city residents.

Contact Us

For more information on how you can apply for CDBG funds, please call the Community Development Department at 973-365-5641.

Eligible Activities

According to 24 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 570.201-206, eligible activities include:

  • Acquisition/disposition of real property
  • Assistance to institutions of higher education
  • Assistance to microenterprises
  • Clearance
  • Code enforcement
  • Historic preservation
  • Homeownership assistance
  • Interim assistance
  • Lead based paint hazard evaluation and reduction
  • Program administration costs related to planning and execution of CDBG assisted activities
  • Public improvements and facilities (e.g., senior citizens center, recreation center, day care center)
  • Public services (e.g., child care, health care, job training/education programs, recreation programs, drug abuse counseling/treatment, and services for homeless persons)
  • Rehabilitation of residential, commercial/industrial, or other nonprofit owned, nonresidential buildings
  • Relocation payments/assistance
  • Special economic development
  • Technical assistance to increase capacity of public/private non-profits
  • Urban renewal completion

Eligible activities may be carried out by the grantee, or through the use of contractors or subrecipients, or through the use of Community Based Development Organizations (CBDOs) as defined at 24 CFR 570.204. A CBDO may carry out activities that are eligible and those that are otherwise ineligible, such as new housing construction, as provided at 24 CFR 570.204(b) and 570.207(b).