The Cupertino Courier

Federal funding cuts hit CCS programs

By Pam Marino

Cuts in federal funding for local programs provided by agencies such as Cupertino Community Services have sparked a new question at City Hall: Should the city make up the difference?

At least four members of the City Council last week were eager to find ways to fully finance two Cupertino Community Services (CCS) programs, the Rotating Shelter Program, which aids homeless men, and the Affordable Housing Placement Program, which helps low-income residents find below-market-rate rental units.

Both programs are facing a cut from last year's funding, instead of getting the increases CCS requested. CCS officials asked for $20,000 for the Rotating Shelter Program and got $14,565; last year they received $15,000.

CCS requested $25,000 for the affordable housing program and got $12,803. Last year the city gave the program $13,185.

"I don't know about you, but I have not found anything in Cupertino that has gone down in price," CCS executive director Mary Ellen Chell told the City Council at a March 2 meeting. "We can't do it; we just can't continue to offer this type of service at reduced rates."

There was not much the City Council could do about the cuts, however. The funding comes from the Community Development Block Grants Program, administered by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency in Washington, D.C. This year HUD is allotting $150,566 to Cupertino, down 4 percent from last year's $156,946.

The city's job is to disperse the money among local agencies that primarily provide housing services to low-income people; only a certain percentage--less than 20 percent--of the money can be used for public assistance services. Both the rotating shelter and the affordable housing placement fall under this category.

Santa Clara County, which disperses the funds from the federal government to each city, determined that Cupertino could spend $32,223 on public-assistance service activities this year, down 2.9 percent from last year's amount.

Rather than have one program take the entire cut, the Cupertino staff recommended that all the public service agencies cut 2.9 percent from last year's funding amounts.

Chell asked the City Council to make up the difference.

"I think these are services that are essential to the city, and I would ask that you approve making up the difference with either general funds or in-lieu fees," she said. In-lieu fees are paid by developers who build new homes and commercial buildings in the city.

City Manager Don Brown warned the council about funding programs that traditionally have been paid for by the federal government.

"I'm a little nervous from a principle point of view, not just a dollar amount, about the city accepting responsibility for things that the federal government has been funding in the past," Brown said. "It's a dangerous precedent for us to step up to the plate."

He was not against exploring developer fees, however.

Councilman Wally Dean agreed. He said that both government and nonprofit agencies need to learn to live within a budget. He was also concerned that non-Cupertino residents benefit from some of the programs.

Councilman John Statton said the question was "a ticklish" one.

"I'm not recommending we live outside our means," Statton said. "We are a community with a given population of need out there. We are a community that is wealthy at this point. These needs deserve to be put on the table and measured against all the other needs, as well as the way we fund these needs."

The city currently has approximately $30 million in reserves, nearly twice its annual budget.

The council decided unanimously to have the city staff come back within the next 30 to 45 days with a report about possible funding from outside of Cupertino's general fund.

After the meeting Chell said she was grateful for the council's support of CCS services. But she said CCS will need the additional funding, because of the increased need in the community for housing services. "The agency can't afford to pick up the tab," Chell said. "It's the city's responsibility; we shouldn't be penalized financially."

Senior Adult Legal Assistance, another public assistance program, received $4,853 in funding, though it requested $5,000. The program brings attorneys to the Cupertino Senior Center twice a month to give free legal advice.

Of the five requests for money before the council, the only other organization to receive funding last week was the Sunny View Lutheran Home. President Ron Zielske said Sunny View has been asking HUD for years to allow low-income residents to receive assisted-living care at Sunny View West, a low-income housing project within the retirement community. Currently, elderly residents who need more care have to move out of the project.

He said HUD finally granted the request.

The City Council approved the budget that would give Sunny View $50,000 toward the construction costs. Zielske said Sunny View will be establishing an endowment fund to help pay for services future residents will need.

A total of 24 units will be covered by the new assisted-living project, aiding a total of 30 residents.

The rest of the block grant money will help pay for the city's staff time in implementing the grants and an upgraded computer the city will use for the program. The county takes $15,000 from each city to recoup its own staff costs. The rest of the money, $43,845, goes to the Affordable Housing Fund, an account the city keeps to help fund housing programs later in the year.

CCS was unsuccessful in getting funding to make repairs on a four-plex the agency owns. Two of the units are used by low-income families. One unit is used as a transitional home for a man from the rotating shelter program; the other unit is reserved for use by homeless women and their children.

Chell said the building's bathrooms need to be overhauled, and a damaged outside wall needs to be repaired.

A city staff report recommended that CCS apply for a loan through a city rehabilitation program. The loan payments could be deferred, based on the agency's financial status.

Chell said CCS will apply for the loan, but she is concerned that city inspectors will require far more work than what the agency is requesting.

"I don't have anything to hide down there," she said. "I just want the wall fixed and the bathrooms redone."

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