LISBON — Federal CDBG allocations will be provided to counties every other year instead of annually.

Columbiana County Development Director Tad Herold said the decision by the state, which administers the federally funded program, means county commissioners will not receive any CDBG allocation for distribution among communities until 2018.

“I learned in March that to cut costs the state is giving (CDBG) awards to half the counties this year and half the next year,” he said, with the county not scheduled to receive its next allocation until 2018.

CDBG stands for the Community Development Block Grant, a federally funded program administered by the Ohio Development Services Agency. Until now, commissioners received an annual allocation every spring under the CDBG formula program and then received applications from cities, villages and townships requesting a portion of the money for a particular project.

The amount has been steadily declining in recent years, with commissioners receiving $308,000 in 2016. Fifteen percent is taken off the top to cover the county development department’s administrative cost and 5 percent to fund the state-mandated Fair Housing Program, leaving $246,000 to spend on community projects.

Herold said the good news is the county’s allocation should be double since it will represent two years’ worth of CDBG funding, which means they may be able to take on larger projects.

Communities are still eligible to seek funding for projects through the CDBG competitive program, which is for downtown and neighborhood revitalization projects. These applications still have to be made through commissioners, and some communities have expressed interest. Herold noted commissioners were able to use this program to obtain funding for a recent bridge repair project in East Palestine.

Herold was asked whether going to a biennial funding cycle would hurt his office since 15 percent of the money was to cover administrative costs? “We were concerned at first because it does help (operate) our office,” he said of the money. But the office receives administrative funding from other grants as well as fees associated with running the county land bank program, which Herold believes gives them enough money to continue operating until the next CDBG allocation.

President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the CDBG program as part of the budget he submitted to Congress, but there does not appear to be enough support among federal legislators for that to happen because the program is popular among local officials.

Because their annual CDBG allocation was dwindling, commissioners decided in 2015 to create a Township Assistance Grant program, where they would award up to $50,000 for a community project that did not get funded by them with CDBG money.

Herold doubts the TAG program will be funded this year by commissioners because of an anticipated $800,000 loss in county sales tax revenue due to changes at the state level. “I think they are concerned about funding it this year, but we haven’t closed the door in future years,” he said, adding, “It’s always been funding dependent.”