The Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled cities, urban counties, and states to develop viable urban communities. Viable communities are those that (1) provide decent housing and suitable living environments, and (2) expand economic opportunities, primarily for low- and moderate-income persons.

CDBG Funding

CDBG funds assist a wide variety of projects, including economic development, housing rehabilitation, public facilities, and large-scale physical development projects. Preservation activities can be supported through the CDBG program by helping residents to maintain and upgrade historic homes.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) determines grant amounts using a formula that measures various factors, such as a community's extent of poverty, population, housing overcrowding, age of housing, and lag in population growth. The annual CDBG appropriation is allocated between states and local jurisdictions called "entitlement" and "non-entitlement" communities.

Entitlement Communities

Three types of jurisdictions are considered entitlement communities:

• The central cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
• Metropolitan cities with populations of at least 50,000
• Qualified urban counties with a population of 200,000 or more (excluding the populations of entitlement cities)

Wisconsin entitlement communities include the following cities: Appleton, Beloit, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Janesville, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Neenah, Oshkosh, Racine, Sheboygan, Superior, Waukesha, Wausau, Wauwatosa, and West Allis. Wisconsin entitlement counties are Dane, Milwaukee, and Waukesha.

Non-Entitlement Communities

The state also distributes CDBG funds to non-entitlement localities that do not qualify as entitlement communities. Non-entitlement areas are cities with populations of less than 50,000 (except cities that are designated principal cities of MSAs) and counties with populations of less than 200,000.

Wisconsin awards CDBG funds only to units of general local government that carry out development activities. Each year Wisconsin develops funding priorities and criteria for selecting projects, including:

• Formulating community development objectives
• Deciding how to distribute funds among communities in non-entitlement areas
• Ensuring that recipient communities comply with applicable state and federal laws and requirements

• Historic Preservation Tax Incentives
• Community Benefits of Preservation