How to Apply and Who Decides

CDBG funds are awarded on an annual basis, the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is released in late November for grant funds that will be available the following July 1st. Please see detailed information regarding CDBG eligiblity in the 2020 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). 

Availability of Funds

The City of Burlington is soliciting applications from community organizations and city departments for funding through its Community Development Block Grant program. Funding will be targeted to the priorities identified in the current Notice of Funding Availability. Non-CEDO initiated project proposals will be reviewed and scored competitively in this process.

Application packets, which include a letter of interest for funding may be requested from the Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO) at cedofd@burlingtonvt.gov.

The Deadline for Submission

The deadline for submission of the letter of interest is Wednesday, December 4, 2019. Applicants will be invited to submit a final application by January 15, 2020 at 4:00 pm.

Funding is expected to be available on July 1, 2020; however, at this time it is uncertain how much CDBG funding will be available.

An informational workshop for applicants is scheduled for Thursday, December 19, 2019, at 1:00 PM in City Hall.  

For further information, please contact Todd Rawlings at 802 - 652-4209 or  trawlings@burlingtonvt.gov 

The keystone to the annual allocation of CDBG funds in the City of Burlington is the Citizen Advisory Board, which makes funding recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council. This citizen allocation process has been in place since the 1980s; the Citizen Advisory Board reviews all funding proposals that were not initiated by CEDO.

Half of the members of the Citizen Advisory Board are elected by the Neighborhood Planning Assemblies, three members are appointed by the Mayor, one member represents Burlington youth, and the remaining members represent other stakeholders such as the State of Vermont.  Below is a list of members for the 2019 Board which met during January, February, and March to review the 2019 applications. A Public Hearing before City Council was held on April 29, 2019, to finalize the allocation of CDBG funds.

Burlington's use of a Citizen Advisory Board to make recommendations on the best use of the city's annual federal CDBG appropriation has received national recognition, including a local Best Practice award from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The Board makes difficult but community-based decisions about addressing a broad spectrum of poverty-related needs with finite resources.

• January, 2020, Agenda & Minutes
• February, 2020, Agenda & Minutes
• March, 2020, Agenda & Minutes