Appropriating $6,500.00 Community Development Block Grant Technical Assistance for Community Development

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INDIANA UNIVEfCS31'rY at SOUTH BEND 1700 MISHAWAKA AVENUE SOUTI{ BEND, INDIANA 46615 DIVISION OF PUBLT.0 AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS February 13, 1980 TEL NO. 219 -237 -4131 PROPOSAL Community Development Planning and Fiscal Decision - Making in South Bend, Indiana. Proposed by: Indiana University at South Bend, Division of Public and Environ- mental Affairs under the auspices of the Michiana Urban Observatory. I Problem: A major problem faced by South Bend, like other cities forced to operate under a highly inflexible taxing structure, is the capacity of local officials to effectively use the existing fiscal decision making process to achieve stated policy objectives. Three factors seem to contribute to this. problem: 1, with the current property tax system it is virtually impossible to mace new money available to meet changing policy demands. Inflation has compounded the problem by increasing the cost of existing public services at a rate that far exceeds the muni- cipality's ability to raise more revenue. 2. The addition, in recent years, of substantial amounts of federal funds into the city budget has greatly increased the complexity of fiscal management. Major federally - funded programs such as Community Development and CETA operate on fiscal cycles different than those of the city and they incorporate procedures that are not necessarily consistent with the procedures employed by the rity. 3. There is growing realization that if federally- funded programs, particularly Community Development Projects, are to be effective, they will need to be implemented in conjunction with programs funded through other sources. Thus, even though Community Development and the other programs have immeasurably assisted the city in achieving a wide range of policy objectives they have also increased the burden of the city in terms of the need for coordinated program planning and better fiscal management.