By Joe Creason

The Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development held a public hearing on Thursday, November 18. The purpose of the hearing was to present the consolidated annual performance evaluation report (CAPER) for the July 2020 – June 2021 program year.

“CAPER is the annual performance reporting that is required by the city to HUD, in order to benefit from entitlement programs like the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnership, and Emergency solutions grants (ESG),” said OSPCD Director of Finance Alan Inacio.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made CDBG CARES Act (CDBG CV) funds available during this program year to help communities fight against the spread of Covid-19.

“Tonight is a review of the stated goals and objectives in the CAPER five-year action plan. This was also a particularly busy year because we received additional funding in CDBG and ESG,” Inacio said.

CAPER is a mandatory filing and, in conjunction with HUD’s Integrated Disbursement Information System, fulfills statutory and regulatory program reporting requirements.

The report provides the City of Somerville and HUD with the necessary information to assess the overall effectiveness of entitlement programs.

“Somerville has outlined four primary goals and objectives in its five-year plan. These goals include, stabilize and revitalize diverse neighborhoods, preserve and maintain existing affordable housing, family stabilizing and job readiness, ending and reducing homelessness. These objectives will utilize CDBG and ESG funds to provide infrastructure projects, homebuyer assistance, family and housing services,” Inacio said.

According to the 2020-2021 CAPER, Covid-19 small business loans made up the largest CDBG expenditure at $1,769,118.91. The remaining $2,289,025.09 in CDBG expenditures were allocated towards funding Neighborhood infrastructure, parks, public spaces, housing acquisition and covid-19 services.

“In terms of parks and open space, we planted approximately 100 trees throughout CDBG eligible districts across the spring and fall planting season, increasing the urban tree canopy to improve quality of life in those areas,” Inacio said.

Further family and economic development approaches were implemented using ESG funds.

“ESG went towards public services during Covid-19. There were senior and handicapped services to assist with transportation and housing counseling for individuals who struggled with housing and rental assistance. Additional funds were also set toward child care services and job retaining, as layoffs forced many individuals to be retrained,” Inacio said.

In total, over 13,000 people were assisted with these funds. The 2020-2021 CAPER details $331,131 in public service expenditures and an additional $661,604 spent on CDBG-CV public service expenditures.

There were no comments from the public during the hearing.