Report on the Allocation of Community Development Funds to Small Cities

摘要

This study presents alternative systems for allocating community development block grant (CDBG) funds to small cities, using data drawn from a sample of 1,962 municipalities and townships of under 50,000 population, along with a comparison group of 449 cities above 50,000 population. The study also partly fulfills the requirement of the 1977 amendment by Senator James R. Sasser to study small cities and alternative funding formulas for the CDBG program. Findings of the analysis were that (1) community problems and needs differ most between small nonmetropolitan cities on the one hand and between small metropolitan and large cities on the other, (2) poverty - oriented factors are better indicators of nonmetropolitan distress than community are, (3) availability of current data should be considered in making further formula changes, and (4) policymakers should analyze other funding sources before making final decisions on changing CDBG fund distribution. Comparative analysis of three groups of cities -- small, nonmetropolitan, and large -- revealed that small, nonmetropolitan cities are in much greater need of funds than small metropolitan cities. Suggested formula alternatives include substituting factors into the present system, using impaction formulas and measures of concentrated problems, lowering population entitlement threshold to 25,000, and using a general revenue sharing approach to allocate CDBG nonmetropolitan funds. A total of 51 tables are included.