About this archived opportunity

Approximately $1,031,297 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds are available to cities and counties through the State of Iowa’s Streetscapes Program. Incorporated cities and all counties in the State are eligible for this program's funding only if they are not in a designated HUD entitlement areas and if they have successfully closed out a previous Commercial Facades project with IEDA. The Streetscapes Program exists to assist communities who have previously been awarded and completed CDBG Downtown Revitalization (DTR) projects in making improvements to their downtown “streetscape” infrastructure. After having completed a DTR grant, a community that wishes to take the next step in revitalizing their downtown area can apply for this program, so long as that community has documented blight in their current streetscape that they are intending to mitigate or the entire community is at least 51% low-to-moderate income (LMI). Working with a professional engineer, a city will submit designs for everything to be included in the project scope of work. Eligible activities include improvements to streets, curb cuts and/or bump-outs, streetlights, benches, sidewalks, street trees, street signs, and other permanently installed features commonly understood as “streetscaping.” No work may be done on private property. Note that parks/recreational uses, murals, blade signs on businesses, or seasonal/temporary installments are not eligible under this program. Communities may apply for $250,000 maximum. A match amount is not required for this program if the CDBG funds requested are sufficient to complete the proposed project. However, additional points are awarded to applications that demonstrate greater leveraged funds in their budgets. Projects must occur in a community with 51% of household being low-to-moderate income or meeting the requirements necessary to satisfy HUD’s elimination of blight national objective. For purposes of CDBG programs, “low and moderate income” is defined as persons with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Current income levels can be found on the IEDA website: https://www.iowaeda.com/cdbg/program-guidance/ Applications for funding are competitive and will open on 3/18/26 and close on 5/22/26. Awards are typically announced within 60 days of the close of application rounds. 2 CFR 200 Audit Requirements CDBG contracts may be subject to audit. Federal Code (2 CFR 200) requires that recipients that expend $750,000 or more in federal funds within a fiscal year must have a single or program specific audit. When budgeting for CDBG funds, applicants should be aware of these audit requirements: For recipients of $750,000 or more in federal funds received from more than one source of federal funding, an -wide audit must be conducted in accordance with federal requirements outlined in 2 CFR 200.514 For recipients of $750,000 or more in federal funds received from a single source, a project audit, targeting only transactions dealing specifically with the project, may be performed in lieu of an -wide audit. Communities should consult with their accountants regarding the applicability of an audit and audit requirements. Audit costs are a CDBG-eligible expense. -wide audits can be paid with CDBG funds proportional to the amount of all other funds included in the audit. The total cost of a project au