Grant Funding for Cities, Villages, and Townships

The Michigan Department of Treasury has released the application for this year’s Financially Distressed Cities, Villages, and Townships (FDCVT) grant program. Many local units may think that they don’t qualify because they don’t have one or more conditions of probable financial distress, but before you take a pass on this grant, more local units may qualify than you would expect.

The FDCVT grant provides $2.5 million to local units to help fund special projects or infrastructure needs for local governments with limited financial resources.

This year’s application period is from January 19, 2023, to March 31, 2023.

Many local units shy away from the grant because they don’t believe they meet the criteria. If you have or recently had a deficit in the general, water, or sewer fund, a history of declining general fund balance, If your general fund balance is lower than other communities or can demonstrate other factors that show you have financial distress, you may have success in applying for this grant. It may be worth taking a deep look at this funding opportunity.

For more information on the grant and to review the application, visit the FDCVT website.

Here are a few tips if you are interested:

• Visit the MI Community Financial Dashboard and view the “analytics” on the bottom right for your community. Communities with a low percentile in these metrics may have a strong application.
• On the FDCVT website view the grants awarded in previous years to get an idea of what types of projects are funded. For example, many of the projects have been public safety and water system improvements in the last few years.
• Look for projects that reduce your expenditures or increase revenue. These types of projects can help show it will help address four financial distresses.
• Submitted more than one grant application. One grant may be more competitive than another.

If you have projects that can save money, improve public health and safety, or have deferred maintenance due to a lack of funding, this grant may be for you.

If you need assistance in determining if you should apply or completing the application, please reach out to Rod Taylor, Senior Governmental Consultant, at rtaylor@manercpa.com or 517-886-9619.