Puerto Rico Stories | Community Development Digest

USDA Expands ‘StrikeForce Initiative’ for Rural Growth

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announces an expansion of the USDA “StrikeForce Initiative for Rural Growth and Opportunity” in order to address chronic rural poverty in 32 identified counties in Oklahoma and the entire island of Puerto Rico.

read complete story

(USDA) States, Territories Receive $6.63 Million in Agriculture RBEG Funds

Forty-five states and two territories receive 61 Agriculture Dept. rural development awards totaling $6.63 million. In making the Aug. 31 announcement, Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager said the money is coming from the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program. RBEG is an annu...

read complete story

(RENT RATES) FMR Levels Set; HUD Fends off Objections to Hikes, Drops

HUD issues its final Sec. 8 Fair Market Rent (FMR) levels for the new fiscal year, fending off complaints about the levels in some cities. The department publishes FMRs for the Sec. 8 tenant-based program every fiscal year, doing so most recently in the Sept. 30 Federal Register. The end result det...

read complete story

(CDFI) Treasury Pumps $90 Million in ARRA Funds to CDFIs Nationwide

Community Development Financial Institutions in 26 states and Puerto Rico receive a combined $90 million in stimulus package grant awards to boost communities hit by the economic downturn. Treasury Secy. Tim Geithner makes the announcement June 29 in the Bronx, New York City, at a nonprofit firm ca...

read complete story

HUD Offers First TCAP Funds, Treasury Sends First Housing Grants to States Under ARRA

HUD and Treasury Dept. officials announce the first allocation of stimulus-authorized Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. They are sending money in both instances to Ohio, with federal low-income tax credits being allocated to state housing agencies in Ohio, Puer...

read complete story

USDA Sends 144 Value-Added Producer Grantees $19 Million

The U.S. Agriculture Rural Development office spreads $19 million to 144 recipients nationwide as part of its Fiscal Year 2008 Value-Added Producer Grant program, nearly one-quarter of this year's haul going to finance feasibility studies for and marketing of renewable energy and food products. The...

read complete story

Bernardi Surfaces With CDBG Check

Puerto Rico: HUD Deputy Secy. Roy Bernardi re-emerges after his stint as acting secretary, jetting to San Juan with new Asst. Secy. for Community Planning & Development Susan Peppler to deliver $152 million of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and other awards to the commonwealth. Sligh...

read complete story

HUD OIG, PR City Battle over CDBG Expenditures, Documentation

HUD's Office of Inspector General and a Puerto Rico city are at odds over most of an OIG report demanding that the city submit proper documentation on $1.82 million in Community Development Block Grant funds spent in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 and to repay the program nearly $120,000 that the ...

read complete story