$28.8 million for Ga. housing at risk if Trump budget OK’d

Proposal will mean decrease in HUD’s Block Grants.

If the first Trump proposal is passed, Georgia stands to lose upwards of $28.8 million of the grants and loan guarantees the state receives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

While no one expects the budget outline released by the administration to become law without contentious debate and dramatic changes, the proposal now calls for a 13.2 percent decrease in the agency’s roughly $47 billion budget.

In Georgia, HUD in the current fiscal year is providing $166 million on grant programs and $52.4 million in loan guarantees.

The largest piece of HUD spending in Georgia is the $77 million going to Community Development Block Grants, which is aimed at support of affordable housing and jobs programs. The city receiving the largest share of that money is Atlanta, but most of it is spread around the state.

The second-largest grant program is a $26.3 million program meant to help provide housing for people with AIDS.

Close behind is the HOME program, which is providing $25.5 million to state and local groups, especially for rental assistance for low-income people.

The $52.4 million in loan guarantees are aimed at communities doing “economic development, housing rehabilitation, public facilities, and other physical development projects.”

HUD has a regional office in Atlanta, but the lion’s share of the agency’s nearly 8,000 workers are in Washington, D.C.