On Jan. 26, the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) had their bi-weekly meeting at the Hannah Community Center.
During the meeting, members discussed and planned their budget for the Community Development Block Grant program to decide the amount each applicant of East Lansing is going to receive. Prior to the last meeting on Jan.12, applicants had to give a brief presentation on how they would use their grants toward their organization and why it’s needed.
The applicants were: The Associated Students of Michigan State University or (ASMSU), Capital Area Housing Partnership (CAHP), City of East Lansing Department of Public Works, East Lansing Public Library, End Violent Encounters, Haven House, MSU Safe Place and more.
Community and economic development specialist Matt Apostle was splitting the funds for each organization with the help of other committee members.
“That also raises the question of ‘Do you need to fund everything?’ So if you just take the approach that everybody who asks gets a certain amount of the percentage then it isn’t necessarily a thoughtful process,” Committee member Sam Larson said while discussing budgeting tactics with Apostle.
During the meeting plenty of questions were asked about which organization should get more than they received last fiscal year or whether the grant amount should say the same.
“So if you want to try to fund everyone roughly of what they (funds) were last year, we’re gonna have to find a way to reduce last year’s rewards by a total of $15,000. In order to maintain the previous year budget,” Adam Delay, another committee member said.
Later in the meeting, the committee decided to vote on their final budget for the fiscal year. It is expected for the members to announce their decision in their next meeting on Feb. 9.