Fresno County posts 2025-26 CDBG amendment; public comment, Board review March 17

Fresno County Department of Public Works and Planning posted a Substantial Amendment to its 2025–2026 Annual Action Plan on March 3, 2026, making Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships and Emergency Solutions Grant funds available for public facility and infrastructure improvement activities in unincorporated areas of Fresno County. The action accompanies a public comment period and is scheduled for review by the Board on March 17, 2026.

The County’s Community Development Division, which administers and implements CDBG-funded activities for Fresno County and participating cities, issued the application packet titled "2025-2026 Community Development Block Grant Application Unincorporated Area." The packet lists the Division’s office as County of Fresno Department of Public Works and Planning, Community Development Division, 2220 Tulare Street, 8th Floor, Fresno, California 93721, and includes a Table of Contents with Sections I through V identified by page number, including "Application Summary" on page 6 and "Public Hearing/Citizen Participation" on page 7.

The application packet states the County will accept grant requests beginning at $75,000, "up to a maximum of" an amount that is not shown in the posted excerpt. The packet also notes that proposed activities must meet a "National Objective," and that the analysis to determine whether a project meets that objective is performed by Community Development staff. The posted materials emphasize eligibility for public facility and infrastructure improvement activities in unincorporated areas, while the complete lists of eligible and ineligible activities were truncated in the excerpt available with the Substantial Amendment.

The County action sits alongside separate City of Fresno planning documents that address entitlement funding obligations administered through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. City-level materials show the City of Fresno will receive an estimated $7 million in CDBG funds and an estimated $245,600 in program income for use in FY 2026, and that "Approximately $975,000 in CDBG funds will be provided to local non-profits to support programs that serve predominantly low- and moderate-income clientele." The City’s Consolidated Plan process included six in-person and two virtual community needs meetings in October and November 2024 and a public needs hearing in December 2024, and identifies HOME, ESG and HOPWA funding purposes for housing and homeless services.

The Substantial Amendment posting includes a Public Hearing/Citizen Participation section in the application packet, and the County paired the posting with a public comment period prior to the Board review set for March 17, 2026. The posted excerpt did not include the public comment start and end dates nor the full maximum grant amount shown as truncated in the packet; those items are not present in the materials available with the Substantial Amendment.

If the Board proceeds with approval on March 17, 2026, the amendment would authorize county-managed federal funds to be used for public facility and infrastructure projects in Fresno County’s unincorporated communities under HUD’s regulatory framework. The County’s Community Development Division office is listed at 2220 Tulare Street, 8th Floor, Fresno, California 93721 for applicants seeking the full "2025-2026 Community Development Block Grant Application Unincorporated Area" packet and additional application details.