As cuts on the federal level continue, the city of Jamestown has officially approved sending a letter and resolution to local federal representatives asking for their help preventing the cuts and potential elimination of the Housing and Urban Development’s HOME and CDBG funding programs.

This issue was previously discussed during the last work session of the City Council by Councilman Bill Reynolds, R-Ward 5 and chair of the Housing Committee. Federal budget cuts that would eliminate more than $4.2 billion previously budgeted for the CDBG and HOME programs would result in the city losing around $1.2 or $1.3 million in CDBG funding and about $300,000 or $400,000 in HOME funding.

“It’s certainly detrimental to the city and we’re hopeful that with legislation forthcoming that we might be able to convince our federal representatives to reintroduce that funding,” Reynolds said during a recent work session.

The block grant program was created in 1974 under President Gerald Ford. CDBG projects are required to meet certain criteria — chief among them that they are targeted to lower-income areas. But local officials have flexibility about how and where to use the money.

This isn’t the first time Trump has proposed ending the CDBG program. Back in 2017, Trump’s first budget proposal called for abolishing the four-decade-old program, saying it’s not well targeted to poor areas and hasn’t demonstrated results. Critics have long said the block grant program is fraught with wasteful spending and has strayed from its original purpose of providing housing assistance and economic development in poor communities. Audits conducted by HUD’s Office of Inspector General turned up problems in at least a dozen communities in 2016 that were awarded CDBG money. Among the concerns: millions of dollars not being used appropriately and weak accounting and procurement procedures. A number of Republican lawmakers opposed cutting the programs and they remained largely untouched until now.

At the moment, 84% of the nationwide workforce is being let go from HUD, and that includes in the local, upstate region where there are about 200 people that work for HUD as a part of that region, and that has now been reduced to six employees.

The letter officially approved at the voting session notes the “serious consequences” the elimination of these programs will have on the city’s lower income population, addressing what each program means to the city, saying that by helping to invest in cities such as Jamestown, members of Congress are also investing in families, opportunity, and the health of the state and nation.

“We respectfully urge you to reject these proposed funding cuts and work with us to preserve and strengthen the federal programs that allow us to build a more stable, vibrant and equitable future for all,” the letter reads.