Utahns are wary of Bush cuts

WASHINGTON — President Bush included a $1 billion cut in housing grants in his $2.77 trillion budget sent to Capitol Hill on Monday.

That could affect Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County programs if it stays in as written, officials said.

Congress did not support changes to the Community Development Block Grants proposed by the president last year, but the administration is pushing for reforms again.

The budget proposes $3.032 billion in grant money, down from $4.178 billion proposed for fiscal 2006.

"The cut is a cut and would not be restored in any way," said Len Simon of Simon and Co. in Washington, D.C., who works on federal affairs for Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson as well as for other cities in other states.

Simon said just looking at the budget plan as written now, Salt Lake City could lose more than $1 million in this specific grant money and possibly more if the grant criteria are changed. He said it is not clear how the criteria would be changed at this point.

Bush's budget summary for the Housing and Urban Development Department said only: "With formula reform, more of CDBG's base funding would be directed to communities that cannot meet their own needs. Bonus funds would be awarded to those who demonstrate the greatest progress in expanding ownership and opportunity for their residents."

Lynn Feveryear, Salt Lake County's manager of community development and housing, said he wishes the administration was a little clearer in describing the exact changes. But overall, he said, the proposal was a "drastic change."

"This could really hurt," Feveryear said, especially because Salt Lake County received $2.4 million in grants for fiscal 2006, a decrease from the $2.7 million in 2005.

Salt Lake City received $4.2 million for fiscal 2006, also down from the $4.6 million in 2005, Feveryear said.

The city and the county use the grant money for everything from community revitalization projects to alcohol treatment programs.

Feveryear expects officials from cities and counties across the country to join together again to urge Congress to reject the proposal and explain what the impacts of such a cut would be.

The grant cut, like any of the items in the four-volume document released Monday, paints a broad picture of where Bush wants federal tax dollars to go, but it is ultimately up to Congress how the money is spent. Last week's State of the Union address gave the public its first taste of the president's latest agenda, and the budget shows how he wants to pay for it.