Community Development Grant Program

Texas Department of Agriculture Grants and Services

The Texas Department of Agriculture offers grants and services on production agriculture, health and nutrition, rural health, and economic development. View Texas Department of Agriculture Open Grants.

2024 Texas Community Development Block Project Implementation Manual (Draft)

The Texas Department of Agriculture's recently updated website includes drafts of Implementation Manuals for Program Year 2024.

These drafts are essential for understanding the upcoming program guidelines and requirements, so we encourage you to review them carefully. Your insights and suggestions on these documents will help us refine our resources to better serve you. Certain text appears in blue font to highlight changes to the language from previous additions, though minor edits that do not change policy are not necessarily marked. A summary of the 2024 changes can be found in the Stakeholder letter at the top of the page.

After reviewing the draft manual, TDA welcomes feedback on policy and clarity of the program requirements. Feedback that is received prior to August 15, 2024, may be incorporated into the final manual if appropriate.

The 2024 TxCDBG Project Implementation Manual will be effective September 1, 2024. Note that several of the revisions reflect recent changes to HUD policies to allow more flexibility in meeting grant requirements. If a Grant Recipient opts to begin implementing the 2024 Manual requirements before September 1, you must include clear documentation in the local files of the date on which all actions are to be compliant with the 2024 Manual.

The 2024 Manual updates will be discussed at the upcoming TxCDBG Implementation Workshops in Austin:
July 30-31 and August 20-21. Registration is required.

Upcoming Application Opportunities

2025-2026 Community Development Fund

The primary objective of the Community Development Block Grant program is to develop viable communities by providing decent housing and suitable living environments and expanding economic opportunities principally for persons of low- to moderate-income. Eligible Texas CDBG applicants are non-entitlement cities under 50,000 in population* and non-entitlement counties that have a non-metropolitan population under 200,000 and are not eligible for direct CDBG funding from HUD. *Check with your jurisdiction’s county to determine eligibility based on cooperation agreements.

• Application Method: Two Phase Application
  • Community Application open to all eligible local governments
  • Project Application subsequently required for applicants whose scores place them in funding range
• Maximum Grant Request: $750,000
• Project Priorities: See Regional Priorities
• Application Schedule:
  • Community Application Guide and application documents available in TDA-GO – September 2024
  • Community Application due – December 1, 2024
  • Applicants in first year funding range invited to begin the Project Application – approx. January 2025
  • Project Application due – approx. June 2025
  • Grant Awards for first year recipients – Fall 2025

Regional Project Priorities

H-GAC, in conjunction with the Texas Department of Agriculture, established Regional Project Priorities for the 2025-2026 Community Development (CD) application cycle.

The Community Development Fund is the largest fund category in the Texas Community Development Block Grant (TxCDBG) Program. This fund is available on a biennial basis for funding through a competition in each of the 24 state planning regions, including the H-GAC region. Eligible applicants are rural cities under 50,000 in population, and counties that have a non-metropolitan population under 200,000 and are not eligible for direct CDBG funding from US Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The next funding cycle is anticipated to be released in 2025.

For more information on the grant program, please visit Community Development Fund Application & Guide (texasagriculture.gov).

Although most funds are used for Public Facilities (water/wastewater infrastructure, street and drainage improvements and housing activities), there are numerous other activities for which these funds may be used. As part of this process, H-GAC sought input on the establishment of regional project priorities. Input was solicited through a survey and a public meeting. The H-GAC Board of Directors approved the Regional Project Priorities during a regular Board meeting on April 16, 2024, and H-GAC shared the regional priorities with the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Regional Project Priorities will account for 25% of total points in scoring 2025-2026 Community Development applications. The priority categories are grouped by tier (importance to the region) and assigned points for each tier Tier 1 - 50 points, Tier 2 - 40 points, and Tier 3 - 30 points.

Tier 3 (30 Points)

Developing Regional Project Priorities

Regional Project Priorities Survey

The public was invited to complete an online survey to help establish Regional Priority Projects by ranking a list of suggested priorities based on importance and providing comments. The survey was available online from March 11, 2024, to March 21, 2024.

Regional Project Priorities Public Meeting

The public was invited to attend a public meeting to see the results of a priority projects survey and recommended Regional Project Priorities and to provide input. The hybrid meeting was from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. March 25, 2024, at the H-GAC offices, 3555 Timmons Lane, Houston, Texas, second floor., and on Zoom.