AGENDA CAPTION:
Title
Receive a Staff presentation providing: 1) comments received and staff recommendations for the Action Plan allocating $774,306.00 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement funding for Program Year 2026-2027; and 2) recommendations from the Human Services Advisory Board (HSAB) on the allocation of $750,000.00 in Human Services Grant funding for Fiscal Year 2026-2027; discuss allocations for CDBG and HSAB grants; and provide direction to staff.
Body
Meeting date: July 7, 2026
Department: Planning and Development Services
Amount & Source of Funding
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Fiscal Note:
Prior Council Action: March 3, 2026 held public hearing to receive comments on potential uses of CDBG funding (no comments received) ; April 7, 2026 held public hearing to receive comments on proposed activities (no comments received)
City Council Strategic Initiative: [Please select from the dropdown menu below]
Quality of Life & Sense of Place
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Comprehensive Plan Element (s): [Please select the Plan element(s) and Goal # from dropdown menu below]
☐ Arts and Culture - Choose an item.
☐ Economic Development - Choose an item.
☐ Environment & Resource Protection - Choose an item.
☒ Housing + Neighborhoods - HN-1: Ensure that San Marcos neighborhoods provide safe, affordable, and healthy homes and environments for residents
☐ Land Use + Community Design and Character - Choose an item.
☐ Parks & Public Spaces + Health, Safety & Wellness - Choose an item.
☐ Transportation - Choose an item.
☐ Core Services
☐ Not Applicable
Master Plan: [Please select the corresponding Master Plan from the dropdown menu below (if applicable)]
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Background Information:
STAFF DIRECTION REQUESTED
Staff direction is requested for the CDBG Allocations so they can be placed in the CDBG Annual Action Plan in the next agenda item. The HSAB amounts cannot be finalized until after the City’s budget is approved on September 15, so the City Council will have an agenda item for HSAB funding allocations on September 15.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT
In order to receive the annual CDBG funding from HUD, the City must submit an Action Plan that includes the allocation of the funding to specific programs and projects. The City must also hold two public hearings to receive comments on the use of the annual CDBG funding; the first was held March 3, and the second April 7. The draft Action Plan was posted online and on paper at City Hall and the Library from May 5 to July 6.
No comments were received on the proposed allocations. During the 30 day comment period, the Action Plan was updated with additional information about ongoing City and non-profit initiatives provided by a City staff member. In addition, Mission Able withdrew its application for home repair funding, and the staff committee reconvened to re-allocate the funding that had been recommended for Mission Able.
Attached is the draft 2026-2027 CDBG Action Plan. This year, San Marcos has been allocated $774,306 in CDBG funding by HUD, an increase of $20,000 over last year.
• 70% must benefit people with low to moderate incomes = $542,014
All San Marcos programs and projects meet this requirement
• No more than 15% for public services (social services) =$116,145
• No more than 20% for administration or planning = $154,861
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Applications are also attached, as requested by Council for the packet. A staff committee of five reviewed nine public services applications and five project applications.
Applications and draft Action Plan are available on the City’s website:
<https://sanmarcostx.gov/3065/CDBG-Action-Plans>
Please refer to the tables showing the funding recommendations in the attached presentation. All applications met the staff committees desire to fund programs and projects that will make a meaningful difference for needs of San Marcos residents. The committee tried to balance funding between long term impact vs assistance for immediate needs.
BCL of Texas requested $100,000 for a new rental assistance program, with $85,000 going to rental assistance, but the committee preferred the ability to support multiple existing programs instead of funding a new one, so funding is not recommended for this request.
CDBG had four applications related to home repair, and one for park improvements. For Combined Community Action, the committee recommended $85,000 because CDBG funding has to be spent rather quickly, and staff had concern about their ability to administer $220,000 in work with their current staffing levels. It is recommended that Habitat’s home repair programs receive full funding at $137,500, as well as the Dunbar Park lighting that was requested by Destination Services. The Dunbar Park project would add lighting to a walking path and then over time plaques would be installed on top of the lighting bollards, using Arts funding to celebrate people who were leaders in the Dunbar neighborhood. Using CDBG funding enables the installation of the lighting all at once. Funding that was initially allocated to Mission Able was moved to the City’s home repair program.
HUMAN SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD
This year the Human Services Advisory Board reviewed 40 program applications. Each board member scored each program and created a draft recommendation. Then at two discussion meetings, the board discussed each application, weighing the costs and benefits to San Marcos residents against the need described in the applications. This board had a diversity of opinions about these programs and a robust discussion and coming together on the recommended funding allocations. Total amount requested was $1.7 million, with $750,000 available to allocate. Applications are attached to the packet as requested by Council.
Programs are listed in the attached presentation in rank order by average score from high to low.
• Slide 6: Hays County Food Bank and Hays Caldwell Women’s Center received the highest total HSAB funding. Hays Caldwell Women’s Center is also recommended to receive a small amount of funding from CDBG. Combined Community Action is recommended to receive funding for Meals on Wheels from HSAB and their Energy Efficiency Home Improvements program from CDBG
• Slide 7: Southside Community Center is recommended to receive funding for two out of three HSAB applications - Daily Services and Sunrise Village. CASA, Blanco River Regional Recovery Team (BR3T), Greater San Marcos Youth Council, and Salvation Army are all recommended to receive funding from both CDBG and HSAB.
• Slide 8: The Board recommended that Prevent a Litter (PALS), Any Baby Can, and Bobcat Pride receive 100% of the HSAB funding requested.
• Slide 9: Hays Helping Hands and Community Action of Central Texas each submitted applications for two programs, but the board recommended funding for only one of the two in both cases. (Hays Helping Hands is the new name for Nosotros La Gente.) The HSAB board reviewed multiple requests for emergency assistance and rental assistance, and chose to recommended funding for some of those programs but not all. The Community Action Program shown here is for Tenant Based Rental Assistance and it was not recommended for funding. The others on this slide only requested funding for one program, and only from HSAB.
• Slide 10: Centro Esperanza, Scheib Center, and San Marcos Youth Service Bureau were all recommended to receive support for their facilities. Hill Country Mental Health stated in their application that $150,000 was the minimum amount they could accept to run this program, and the board preferred to spread the funding around to more agencies rather than fund fewer with high amounts.
• Slide 11: Southside Community Center, Hays Helping Hands, and Centro Esperanza are each recommended to receive HSAB funding for other programs, just not the ones on Slide 11.
• Rough Draft is recommended to receive HSAB funding for the first time for their program to make mental health support accessible through art.
• Slide 12: Other than the ACCEYSS summer camp program, the programs shown on Slide 12 not only ranked lowest but also had requests for high amounts, with a high minimum that would be acceptable to run the program. Although the ACCEYSS program ranked low, the board members believed that supporting youth in science and technology is important, and that it is beneficial to San Marcos families to provide low-cost education activities to youth in the summer. Central Texas Food Bank is recommended for a small amount of funding through CDBG.
REVIEWERS
CDBG:
• Grisell Perez-Carey, Community Support and Resource Navigation Manager
• Hayden Migl, Director of Administrative Services
• Shanna O’Brien, Director of Neighborhood Enhancement
• Tiffany Harris, Community Vitality Coordinator
• Carol Griffith, Housing and Community Development Manager
HSAB:
• Alyssa Ramirez, Chair
• Yansi Arevalo, Vice Chair
• Raymond Best
• Madelyn Smith
• Ethan Gravis
• Cherif Gacis
• (Linda Harper-Williams also participated but resigned due to family responsibilities)
• (Noah Herring only attended two meetings and is no longer on the board)
Council Committee, Board/Commission Action:
The Human Services Advisory Board, appointed by City Council, met almost weekly from March - June to review 40 grant applications, receive a presentation on each program, and create a recommendation to City Council for funding allocations to human service agencies.
Alternatives:
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Recommendation:
Staff recommends providing direction to proceed with the CDBG allocations as presented.