$700,000 For Low and Middle-Income Homeowners in Niceville? The City Hopes a Grant Will Bankroll Repairs on Homes. - Mid Bay News

If you’ve been in Niceville for any amount of time – you know that getting an affordable home in the city is no small feat. A quick, if unofficial, glance at Zillow.com will tell you all you need to know. Currently, there are a grand total of five homes listed for less than $300,000 in the city. Four of them are two-bedroom homes.

It’s why the city’s attempt to secure grant funding for what is known as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program took up plenty of time on the Niceville City Council’s packed agenda on June 14th.

Getting Money to Preserve Homes, Roads, Sidewalks and More.

Dennis Dingman, with Summit Professional Services, provides professional expertise in securing grants on behalf of the City of Niceville.

He alerted the city that the state of Florida would be doling out two rounds of Community Block Development Grant money this year, due to the influx of cash from the Federal Government, which was to be used for COVID relief. Essentially, the city applies to both rounds for the money, with the hope that it will get money from one of those rounds. The most that the city could receive out of the grant is approximately $700,000, according to Dingman.

As a professional service, Dingman has helped the city of Niceville receive grants for various uses since 2008. Essentially, Dingman said, the CDBG helps in three separate categories – for which Niceville is eligible for two. Money brought into the city through this grant program can be used to fix up low and middle-income homeowners’ homes. It can also be used for public infrastructure like sewer lines, roads, sidewalks and other needs that the city might have.

Mid Bay News will be following along to see if Niceville successfully acquires funds through the CDBG Program this go-around.