Trump’s budget plan elicits dismay, enthusiasm here

Some programs vital to Yuma County are targeted for elimination

Local reaction to initial budget proposal details released Thursday by the Trump administration spanned the partisan spectrum, from enthusiasm about higher defense spending and its potential to boost the economy to dismay over elimination of programs serving low-income residents.

At the county level, Board of Supervisors Chairman and District 4 Supervisor Tony Reyes, a Democrat said he had multiple concerns about the Office of Management’s overview of the president’s budget package, titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.”

He said it’s still very early in the process, and “I’m sure Congress will have a lot more to say, and hopefully they’ll be much more reasonable in providing for a better balance, which shows the country is still on the right track as far as I’m concerned, which means it’s a country where people are more important than things.”

The board vice-chair, Republican District 2 Supervisor Russell McCloud, said he hadn’t had time to review the proposal, but

“if there’s going to be a large increase in defense spending, obviously with two military bases here, from two different branches of the service, it speaks well for our economy.”

Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma and the Armyoperated Yuma Proving Ground both seem likely to benefit under this budget proposal, “but I know there’s corresponding cuts in other programs, and it’d be a long time before you could really figure out what the total effect could be,” he said.

Reyes said where local impact is concerned, he’s particularly worried about the budget’s elimination of U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department programs such as the Community Development Block Grant program and Section 4 programs, including the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program.

Yuma County has used CDBG funds to help housing programs such as Habi- tat for Humanity and social ones, including Crossroads Mission, he said. “Those are the kinds of funds that, at the county, we wouldn’t be able to use them for this kind of assistance program because the state wouldn’t allow us to use any of the state funds for that. So we’re able to direct this money to an area where we feel there’s a need.”

He’s also concerned about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Water and Wastewater loan program, which would be axed. Small water systems have few if any other financing options to them, he said.

Reyes is executive director of San Luis, Arizonabased Comite de Bienestar, which also uses federal dollars to support affordable housing programs locally.

Yuma County spokesman Kevin Tunell said county staff so far is not adjusting the budget now under construction for 2017-18 in response to the president’s proposals. “It’s very early in the (federal) process, and they’re charging on. And we’ll make ad- justments accordingly, if necessary,” he said.

City of Yuma spokesman Dave Nash said in an email Thursday that CDGBfunded public service programs, offered through local nonprofits have helped just over 12,500 Yuma residents, 98 percent of them low-income. These services include GED classes, homeownership funding, job training, domestic abuse counseling and others.

The block grants have also funded 171 home rehabilitation projects and 11 affordable rental units since 2011, with 58 more planned in the Mesa Heights Neighborhood Revitalization Area, which includes most areas between 4th Avenue, Arizona Avenue and 16th and 24th streets. Thirteen families purchased homes with down-payment assistance through CDBG in the last six years, as well.

Public facilities including the Amberly’s Place Victim Advocacy Center, Joe Henry Optimist Center and Marcus Park have also benefited from CDBG funds.

“CDBG is an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities,” Neighborhood Services Director Rhonda Lee-James said.

The Trump budget blueprint states the administration “supports homeownership through provision of Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance programs,” and the budget will include $35 billion for HUD rental assistance programs, serving 4.5 million households, while proposing reforms to cut costs.

One local program which faced proposed budget cuts every year of the Obama administration which never made it through Congress, has been recommended for elimination now that Trump has taken over. Funding for the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and its 48 counterparts across the country would be eliminated, stating they’re “more appropriately funded locally.”

Executive Director Charles Flynn said Yuma Crossing has been getting $341,000 from the National Park Service’s budget annually for the last several years, or about 15 percent of its overall budget. That funding is critical in “leveraging” support from local sources, he said.

“That money is extremely important because it sort of gets us to the table in talking to a lot of partners and getting them to come forward to help on projects, and that’s been a successful strategy, in pulling partners together to make a project happen. And you have a lot more success in building those partnerships if you’re actually bringing some money to the table as well,” he said.

The heritage area includes the Yuma Territorial Prison and Quartermaster Depot state historic parks, Gateway Park, the West and East Wetlands parks, and part of the historic downtown. Other major funding sources include the city of Yuma, state and federal grants, private contributions and revenue from admission fees and gift shops.

Flynn said the heritage area funding has never been threatened with total elimination, and has enjoyed broad support up to now. He added, “With a new administration and a new Congress, we are in uncharted waters. But I think because we have good bipartisan support, that should help us, going forward.”

Other items in the Trump budget blueprint of particular interest to Yuma County include:

• No cuts are proposed to “farmer-focused research and extension programs at land grant universities,” and includes about $350 million for USDA’s competitive research program.

• The purchase of more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, an item criticized by Trump in the past, is mentioned for the Air Force, but it’s unclear how this would affect MCAS-Yuma, a principal training facility for Marine pilots. The document says the budget “ensures a ready and fully equipped Marine Corps. The Budget lays the foundation for a force that meets the challenges of the 21st Century.”

• Payments could be reduced or eliminated for the National Wildlife Refuge Fund, which compensates counties and other entities for property tax revenues it would be getting if refuges and other land owned by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service were in private hands. This is a separate program from Payment in Lieu of Taxes, which provides about 5 percent of Yuma County’s General Fund revenue.