Donald Trump’s plans to slash $3 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding in his proposed 2017 budget is stirring up anxiety among North Bergen officials. They warn that the cuts would severely hamper their ability to maintain the town’s upkeep.
The CDBGs, distributed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, fund local community initiatives such as affordable housing, construction of public facilities, and job creation. North Bergen receives roughly $700,000 annually from the grants, according to Mayor Nicholas Sacco.
“We do a lot of street repairs and work on infrastructure with that money,” Sacco said at the most recent Board of Commissioners meeting. “It’s a big program, and if we get cut by that, what’ll happen, in all areas, is there’s going to be less money to fix streets and do repairs and fix parks, because we can’t keep straining the budget.”
The money also goes to things such as park development, housing rehabilitation and community policing. Sacco added that though the town has some surplus funds from their 2017 budget, it wouldn’t be able to sustain the infrastructure without the federal grants.
“How long does that last?” he said. “In our own budget, we have money to do the roads. This stuff is extra money; we could do a lot more roads. We have a large town and a large park structure. For us to be able do that, and strain our own budget, we’ll be straining our own budget once we go into other areas. This would be really hard and I’m hoping he’s not successful in doing this. It would hurt all the urban areas in the states.”
He added, “We get a lot of work down. Now, we’re going to burden the taxpayers. We can’t do two streets, maybe we do one street – it’s going to be a problem.”
Could stall sewer replacement
Several years ago, the town began a long-term initiative to replace its aging sewer system, which also relies heavily on the grant money. Should the CDBGs go by the wayside, it could impact that project. “Our own sewer infrastructure is over 100 years old,” said Phil Swibinski, the town’s spokesperson.
“It’s incredibly expensive to replace, so having federal assistance is really a tremendous help to the township, and replacing aging infrastructure with it would not overburden taxpayers.”
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“Mayor Sacco is really committed to keeping taxes stable, but the loss of CBDG grants would really threaten that.” – Phil Swibinski
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The sewer work is a must, according to Swibinski. “Water main breaks happen all over the place,” due to older sewer equipment, “and that’s exactly what the town is trying to avoid by replacing the pipes. You don’t want to end up in dangerous situations.”
In general, federal income taxes fund the grants. But if Trump’s budget goes through, the town will have to compensate in other ways, and residents will bear the cost.
“The repairs still need to be done,” Swibinski said. “So either they won’t get done, or they’ll have to pay for it directly by the town, based on the local property taxpayers. Mayor Sacco is really committed to keeping taxes stable, but the loss of CBDG grants would really threaten that.”
Hannington Dia can be reached at hd@hudsonreporter.com
