COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Consolidated Planning

Lafayette Consolidated Government (LCG) has been a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) entitlement community for more than 50 years. As an entitlement community, LCG is required to create a Five (5) Year Consolidated Plan (Con Plan), a strategic guide used to identify and address the housing and community development needs of our low- and moderate-income (LMI) residents. 

The Con Plan must also identify how LCG will address these needs by disbursing two (2) types of grant funds from HUD: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Program (HOME). CDBG can be used for various activities, such as home repairs, housing counseling services, demolition of dilapidated properties, accessibility improvements, and economic development initiatives. HOME is more specialized and must be used for new housing construction or bringing a home up to modern building codes set by HUD and local ordinances through rehabilitation and remediation. 

Activities in the current five (5) year Con Plan, which runs from 2023 to 2027, focuses on the following national objectives:

1. Provide decent housing through retention of a jurisdiction's affordable housing stock and increasing the availability of permanent housing in healthy, safe conditions at affordable cost to low-income and very low-income families. This is accomplished by investing funds into rehabilitation and new construction that covers some or all of the costs for the homeowner. We also provide first-time homeowner loans at reasonable rates using nondiscriminatory lending practices to assist with down payment costs for low-income persons.
2. Provide a suitable living environment by improving the safety and livability of neighborhoods, increasing access to quality public services, and reducing the isolation of income groups within a community or geographical area. We can achieve this by revitalizing deteriorating or deteriorated neighborhoods. We also restore and preserve properties with special historical, architectural, and aesthetic value.
3. Expanding economic opportunities through the creation or retention of jobs through the use of loans to small businesses that target employing current low-income persons, access to capital and credit for the development of activities that promote long-term economic and social viability of the community, and the empowerment and self-sufficiency opportunities for low-income persons to reduce generational poverty in Federally assisted and public housing.

In addition to the Con Plan, LCG produces an Annual Action Plan to identify how our five (5) year goals will be implemented each program year (October 1 to September 30). LCG ensures transparency by presenting recommended activities for the Annual Action Plan at our first of two public hearings in January/February. These recommendations are based on data analysis and prior feedback from the community. The final draft of the Annual Action Plan is introduced at our second public hearing in April/May for public comment and feedback for 30 days. After the comment period, LCG incorporates any new or additional information for the finalized plan to be approved by the Mayor-President, Parish Council, and City Council, then submit it to HUD.

LCG allows non-profits to apply for funding not spent in the prior program year through an annual competitive application process that opens after the first public hearing. Non-profits are encouraged to submit projects that will accomplish the goals set in the Con Plan. LCG reviews and scores projects based on community needs and how effective the proposal is in addressing a significant number of LMI residents. Please contact us for more information and the requirements for receiving a funding award.

LCG produces a performance review at the end of the program year through a Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER). The CAPER is used to inform the community and HUD about the outcome of our Annual Action Plan. The CAPER is released for public review and comment in November/December.

All documents are included in the links below for review. Prior year documents are available upon request.