The city of Jackson, Mich., is struggling to spend the funds from a $2.9 million grant to remove lead-based paint from homes, Michigan Live reports. The city has not completed any projects under the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Program grant the city received in April 2018, largely due to strict qualifications and regulations.
City Council hopes to change that by upping the amount of money allowed per project. Right now, it’s $20,000, but the council voted unanimously to ask the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development if it can give more. All project cost assessments in Jackson so far have surpassed the $20,000 mark.
The grant includes $2.5 million in lead hazard control and $400,000 in Healthy Homes supplemental funding, she said. The Healthy Homes program aims to reduce different childhood diseases and injuries in the home, according to HUD. The city originally planned to fix 150 rental homes and 17 homeowner units.
“This is a grant not many communities get across the U.S. They do about 20 grants a year,” Michelle Pultz-Orthaus, city of Jackson grant coordinator, said. “It would be a lost opportunity for people to get much needed work done to make their properties safer for children.”
Other cities across the country have had similar problems with federal grants to remove lead-based paint from homes. Richmond, Va., completed only 10 lead-removal projects in three years despite being awarded a $2.7 million grant. Richmond's chief problem derived from homeowners and landlords not being willing to allow the city to do work on their property. Allegheny County in Pittsburgh has been unable to help families with its $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development due to a shortage of contractors qualified and certified to do the work.
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