The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Program provides annual grants from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to eligible cities to help support and develop viable urban communities.

Auburn receives CDBG funds annually, and funds a variety of projects in the community that support our City’s CDBG goals. Auburn is part of the King County CDBG Consortium, and we work very closely with other communities utilizing this resource, especially with King County and the cities of Federal Way, Kent, and Bellevue.

The CDBG program provides formula grants, meaning that the amount we receive is based off of a set formula that Congress approves each year during the budget process. This formula includes multiple factors such as population, poverty rate, and age of housing stock.

Our annual grant amount changes each year based on changes to the budget as well as our community demographics. In 2024, we will receive $619,474. We don’t know how exactly how much we will receive in 2025, but we generally create a budget and plan based on the amount we were awarded in the prior year.

The City of Auburn is required by HUD to submit a plan every five years to HUD that maps out how it will prioritize CDBG dollars. This plan, called the Consolidated Plan, is designed to help states and local jurisdictions assess their affordable housing and community development needs. Our current plan covers 2020 – 2024, and includes data on our community needs as well as our planned activities to help address those needs.

Additionally, the City submits an Annual Action Plan to HUD that details what resources we expect to receive in the coming year and how we will spend CDBG funds.

Projects and activities of the current Consolidated Plan and our Action Plans follow three broad goals:

1. Affordable Housing – Ensure access to healthy, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households throughout the region and advance fair housing to end discrimination and overcome historic patterns of segregation.
2. Ending Homelessness – Make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time and eliminate racial disparities.
3. Community and Economic Development – Establish and maintain healthy, integrated, and vibrant communities by improving the well-being and mobility of low- and moderate-income residents, and focusing on communities with historic disparities in health, income, and quality of life.

The City welcomes input from Auburn residents on how we allocate these funds. Typically, there are two public hearings held each year to receive input on the Annual Action Plan – once before we’ve drafted it, and once after it’s been published, and community members have had the opportunity to review. See more about this process and the opportunities to share your perspectives with the City at SpeakUpAuburn.org/CDBG.

Every year, the City produces an annual report called the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) that details how we spent these dollars and what progress we made during the prior year. Our most recent CAPER can be found in the documents at the top of this page.

The process for community input on our CDBG program is guided by the City’s CDBG Citizen Participation Plan, a document that HUD requires each grantee to develop and follow. You can read our full plan, located at the top of this page.

The City welcomes public participation in the development of the Consolidated Plan and amendments to the Plan. Prior to the adoption of the plan, the fund amount expected from HUD to the City of Auburn, the range of activities that may be undertaken, and the amount of funding expected to benefit low/moderate-income persons will all be made available to the public.

Key Opportunities for Input:

• Public Hearings: Public hearings will be held at least twice per year at key stages of the grants administration process to obtain the public’s views and to provide the public with responses to their questions and comments. Public hearings refers to both public hearings at City Council and the City’s Human Services Committee as well as community meetings.
  Residents are given at least 14 calendar days notice of all hearings and public meetings through posting on the City of Auburn webpage and direct notification to stakeholders. Public notice shall indicate the date, time, location, purpose of the meeting, and information about the issues to be discussed. This information will be posted on this website as it is available.
• Comment Period: The City makes all reports related to CDBG available for review and feedback prior to finalizing them. The comment periods for plans and reports is listed below. When these comment periods are open, the plans will be posted on this website, and we will detail the ways you can submit comments.

Document & Comment Period

• Consolidated Plan & Annual Action Plan: 30 calendar days
• Substantial Amendment to Consolidated & Annual Action Plan: 30 calendar days
• Fair Housing Assessment: 30 calendar days
• Citizen Participation Plan: 30 calendar days
• CAPER: 15 calendar days

The City of Auburn is required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to regularly adopt an updated Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) in order to remain eligible to receive CDBG funds. The AI is an analysis of data related to housing access and disparity, utilizing a standard format and data points provided by HUD. Each year, the City includes information in its annual performance report to HUD regarding how it has addressed issues and goals identified in the AI. The AI is a supplement to the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan, and informs the goals within the larger strategic planning document. As part of the King County Consortium, Auburn and other cities adopt a King County-wide AI in order to understand and respond to larger issues of Fair Housing present across our community as a whole.

The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 requires all local governments affirmatively further fair housing. The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice seeks to understand the barriers to fair housing as identified by community and stakeholder input, data, and policy analysis. This Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice helps guide policy and funding decisions to address discrimination and segregation in King County.

Federal, state, and local laws make it illegal for housing providers to discriminate against certain groups (see list below). Factors that have a disproportionate impact on access to housing for these groups can also be a barrier to fair housing choice. All local governments have a duty to strive to ensure all people have fair access to housing.

Protected Classes

Federal 

• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Disability
• Familial Status 

State of Washington 

• Creed
• Marital Status
• Veteran/Military Status
• Use of Service or Assistive Animal
• Source of Income 

King County

• Age
• Ancestry

King County’s 2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, adopted by the City of Auburn, recommends the following Fair Housing Goals:

1. Invest in programs that provide education and enforcement of fair housing laws.
2. Engage underrepresented communities in ongoing efforts to understand barriers and increase access to opportunity.
3. Provide more housing for vulnerable populations.
4. Provide more housing choices for households with large families.
5. Support efforts to increase housing stability.
6. Preserve and increase affordable housing in communities at high risk of displacement.
7. Review zoning laws to increase density in urban areas.
8. Work with communities to engage in community revitalization efforts.
9. Support the Affordable Housing Committee’s efforts to promote fair housing.
10. Report annually on Fair Housing goals and progress.