The Simi Valley City Council will hold a public hearing on May 5 to make final decisions on the use of more than $1 million in Community Development Block Grant funds for fiscal year 2008-09.

According to the Draft FY 2008-09 Action Plan published this month for public review, about $820,000 of CDBG funds is proposed for infrastructure and community facilities improvement projects, such as the city's minor street rehabilitation program and the home rehabilitation administration.

The remaining funds will be used to support a variety of community nonprofit programs like the Samaritan Center, Hospice of the Conejo and FOOD Share.

Rob Bruce, deputy director of housing and special projects with the city of Simi Valley, said that the city's CDBG Advisory Committee determined preliminary allocation of the funds during a public hearing April 2. There were a total of 15 applicants seeking a chunk of the money.

"They rank the grant applicants using criteria adopted by the City Council," Bruce said. "They use that to score each application and determine how much funding to give them. The top scorers get the most funding."

Simi Valley receives CDBG funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development every year.

For 2008-09, the city received $719,674, in addition to $352,898 in unspent prior year grant money.

Bruce said the unspent funds originated from grants that were awarded to projects more than 15 years ago but were never completed.

Changes in federal accounting software had prevented city staff from knowing about the extra funds in the past, he said.

"Once we realized that money was there, we verified it with HUD and said 'Great, we'll spend it this year,'" Bruce said. "The amount of funding has been decreasing steadily over the last four years, so that extra money has really helped us out."

Carolyn Duncan, the city's CDBG coordinator, said the amount of money each jurisdiction gets- which has been decreasing by about 5 percent each year- is determined through a complex formula calculated by HUD.

The decrease has made securing the grants more competitive for local nonprofits- who can only receive a total of 15 percent of the grants. Many will appear May 5 to state their case before the council.

"The City Council will have the ability to change the preliminary allocations," Duncan said. "Some recipients will ask the council to reconsider and maybe ask for full funding."

The other 85 percent of CDBG money must be relegated to "brick and mortar" projects, Bruce said.

The largest portion of the infrastructure funding- totaling $608,771- is proposed for the fourth year plan of the city's fiveyear Capital Improvement Program for street rehabilitation in low/moderateincome areas, according to the tentative report.

About $75,500 will be allocated to the repair and replacement of facilities at the Boys & Girls Club on the 2800 block of Lemon Drive, and $51,739 will be spent on rehabilitating the parking lot of Arc Industries on the 5100 block of Cochran Street.

The Simi Valley Home Rehabilitation Program, which gives loans to eligible low/moderateincome families in need of fixing up their homes, will receive $42,676 in CDBG funds.

Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit organization currently constructing three affordable housing units on the corner of Royal and Sequioa avenues, will receive $30,000.

The Simi Valley Historical Society and Museum will be awarded $12,000 to preserve the historic Banaga Barber Shop at the Strathearn Historical Park.

Final approval of CDBG allocations will commence during a meeting of the City Council on Monday, May 5.

The city is current soliciting comments on the Draft FY 200809 Action Plan, which is available for public review at City Hall in the city clerk's office and at the Simi Valley Library at 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

Citizens are encouraged to submit comments in writing to City of Simi Valley, Attn: Carolyn Duncan, Environmental Services Department, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley, CA 93063.