HUD denies Southern Nevada’s request for stimulus funds

Southern Nevada requested $367 million in stimulus money from the federal government to help stem its crippling foreclosure crisis. It got nothing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today.

“I am a little perplexed by the decision,” said Michael Pawlak, manager of Clark County’s Community Resources Department, which was to oversee the grant. “I thought we had a strong application and a strong demonstration of need. But, without having an understanding of what HUD based its decisions on, it’s hard to second guess them.”

In July, a consortium of Clark County, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Las Vegas requested $367 million, or nearly one in every five grant dollars available for the entire nation, to implement the second phase of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development initiative geared at putting families in foreclosed homes.

Unlike Southern Nevada, the Reno Housing Authority received $21 million. Other recipients included housing agencies in Florida, which shared $348 million, and agencies in California, which shared $318 million, according to HUD’s Web site.

Kenny Young, an official with the City of North Las Vegas’ Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services, said the county and cities will have to meet to determine the next step in addressing a problem that they say grows each month. More than 1,600 Southern Nevada homes fell into foreclosure in December alone.

Young said he was told that HUD received 482 grant applications, requesting a total of $15 billion. Only 56 applications made the cut, he said.

Local officials learned earlier this week that HUD Assistant Secretary Mercedes Marquez is coming to visit with them Friday, which some presumed was a good omen that the area qualified for a grant.

“Maybe they (HUD) thought things here were so bad that no amount of money would help us,” Young said. “We will have to regroup and see what comes out of the meeting with the assistant secretary.”