LOCK HAVEN — With the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” on Capitol Hill, the City of Lock Haven could stand to lose roughly $300,000 in federal funding on a variety of local infrastructure projects.

City Manager Gregory Wilson laid out the local impact the bill — known as HR 1 — which passed both the House and Senate and was signed by President Donald Trump, will have on local projects — particularly the Community Development Block Grant program.

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), CDBG funding is from a federal program that provides “annual funding to states, cities and counties to revitalize neighborhoods, improve infrastructure and expand economic opportunities, with a focus on benefiting low- and moderate-income residents.”

The Department of Community and Economic Development administers the funding on behalf of HUD in Pennsylvania.

Wilson told the council the city has benefited from the program for decades. However, with the passage of HR1, federal funding for this program, along with the HOME grant and Community Service Block Grant, is expected to be terminated based on the parameters of the bill.

This would make the 2025 allocation of CDBG funding the last allocation the city receives, he said.

“For decades, the city has benefitted annually by having the federal taxes paid by our residents returned,” Wilson said.

He told council, on average, the city sees a $300,000 return through the CDBG program.

“Those funds enable our local government to invest in community development, infrastructure and housing in a way that benefits low- and moderate-income residents,” he said.

Through the CDBG funds, Wilson said the city has been able to improve a variety of its infrastructure including sewer, stormwater, water and streets. It’s also been able to improve the quality of life for its residents through park improvements and other endeavors.

“All of which makes our community more attractive to business and development, which results in better employment and lower poverty,” he said.

Wilson pointed to statistics related to the city’s poverty rate to showcase how these improvements can have an impact.

“Take, for example, 10 years ago, the city’s poverty rate was 40.7 percent and today it is 25 percent,” he said. “Quality of life investments over the decades have had a dramatic impact on the community’s well-being.”

The CDBG funding provided to the city has an impact on future planning and improvement projects, which Wilson noted was included in the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

“That expectation is laid out in the city’s Comprehensive Plan where our residents have allocated what they value most for investments of money,” he said. “One of the largest ways those investments have been made possible is the return of federal funding to local governments.”

Wilson touched briefly on the HOME Investment Partnership Program that also faces challenges following HR1’s passage.

“This program has provided over half a million dollars’ worth of home improvements to low-to-moderate income households over the past decade,” Wilson said.

He also noted the impacts the elimination of the Community Service Block Grants — administered locally by STEP, Inc. — could have.

“Those include job training and employment assistance, food and nutritional programs like Meals on Wheels, housing assistance and homelessness prevention, emergency utility assistance and disaster relief, childcare, financial literacy and transportation assistance,” he said.

The program that doesn’t look to be impacted, he noted, is the Head Start program administered by STEP.

During council discussion, Mayor Joel Long said he felt residents didn’t fully understand what the passage of HR1 — and funding cuts — would mean on a local level.

“It’s devastating. I still don’t think they’ll really get it until things aren’t getting done,” he said.

Councilmember Rick Conklin echoed Long’s statements.

“It’s just insanity. We’re not the only community this size that’s going to be affected. Every community across the Commonwealth is going to be affected. It just boggles my mind,” Conklin said.

Councilmember Steve Stevenson noted programs like CDBG are residents’ own federal taxes being brought back to them.

“It’s tax dollars that everybody in the city and county come back to use and spend as we feel,” he said. “To us, it’s a lifeline to have these programs.”

Councilmember Tami Brannan noted the loss of federal funding can lead to a higher tax burden locally and make affordability within the city even tougher.

Long agreed with Brannan’s assessment.

“In a small community like this, and all the small communities around use, they’re going to be affected by this, too,” he said.

He noted Clinton County Government’s CDBG dollars typically offset costs in area communities for road replacement and other projects.

“You’re constantly walking this fine line of trying to keep it affordable but keep the quality of life as such that you want to be here,” he said. “I’m not certain people realize how much $300,000 can mean to the city.”