The Bainbridge Island City Council agreed May 27 to let BI continue participating in a federal program that supports community development in lower-income towns, even though the city itself is unlikely to receive any of the funding, and the future of the program is unclear given extensive cuts at the federal level.
By renewing BI’s enrollment in the Community Development Block Grant, nonprofits on the island that serve to improve public infrastructure, build housing, provide homeowner assistance, and install new facilities that benefit the low-income community will continue to be eligible for funding from the national program.
Funding won’t flow from the city to these organizations — it will come from the county, because BI is not eligible by itself.
Kitsap County receives CDBG funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development as an “Urban County,” which it can distribute to cities and nonprofits that serve the grant’s mission. The cities of Poulsbo, Bainbridge and Port Orchard would not qualify for CDBG funding if they applied alone, so they each agreed to join the CDBG under the county’s umbrella.
That way, the county may receive more funding from the federal level, and nonprofits in those three cities may be eligible for a slice of the pie.
“With this option, where we continue doing what we’re doing, we’re both benefiting Kitsap County — because our population helps to accrue more [funding] — and our nonprofits get a chance to pull from those funds,” said Councilmember Leslie Schneider.
City manager Blair King affirmed Schneider’s statement, and added that while there is a state-level CDBG, it’s a much more competitive program, and neither the city of BI nor its nonprofits would qualify for funding due to the island’s population and economic status.
BI’s participation in the program, given the city’s affluence relative to other towns in the county, gave Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki pause.
“I think it’s good that we don’t have deep areas of poverty [on the island,] but these valuable federal grants are really targeted from the civil rights era to advance communities, so that’s the part that’s kind of troublesome; we’ll probably never see any of that [funding], but of course, in the next three years, we probably won’t see any money anyway,” said Moriwaki.
While island organizations may not see the lion’s share of county CDBG funding, it’s still an important source of income for some nonprofits.
Helpline House is a multi-year recipient of the CDBG, landing $50,000 in 2024 and scheduled for $198,000 in 2025. The funding has become an essential part of the organization’s push to build a new community services center and food bank, which it will break ground on in June.
Bonnie Tufts, county CDBG program manager, noted at a March council meeting that the future of the grant is unknown, given rampant cuts to federal programs, which makes planning ahead challenging.
