Congress annually appropriates funds for the capital fund, including the emergency and non-presidentially declared natural disaster set-aside

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Public and Indian Housing Office awarded the Housing Authority of the City of Columbus, Indiana $225,000 under the Public Housing Capital Fund (CFDA 14.872) on May 15, 2026, for capital and management activities supporting public housing modernization, development, infrastructure improvements, emergency repairs, and energy efficiency upgrades. The award obligates $225,000 with a period of performance through May 14, 2028, and place of performance in Columbus, Indiana. The Public Housing Capital Fund provides formula-based annual grants to public housing agencies nationwide for capital needs; PHAs' allocations are calculated according to their public housing inventory characteristics—unit count, building age, and construction costs—rather than through competitive application. The Housing Authority maintains accurate public housing inventory information in HUD's Information Management System and submits annual Capital Fund certifications. Awards are subject to 2 CFR 200 audit requirements, which apply in conjunction with regular HUD or independent public accountant audits of PHA operations.

Activities

The definitions of "emergency" and "non-presidentially declared natural disaster" are used in determining eligibility for emergency and non-presidentially declared natural disaster grants: • emergency: an unforeseen or unpreventable event or occurrence that poses an immediate threat to the health and safety of the residents (including fire safety) that must be corrected within one year of funding. Examples of emergencies are boiler failure, water intrusion causing mold growth, sewer line failure, and severe electrical problems. A PHA must be able to demonstrate that IT has properly maintained structures and equipment. • non-presidentially declared natural disaster: an extraordinary event, such as an earthquake, flood, or hurricane, affecting a public housing property owned and managed by a PHA, but excluding areas covered by a presidentially-declared emergencies and major disasters under the robert T. Stafford disaster relief and emergency assistance act, as those areas are eligible for funding from the federal management agency (FEMA). Capital fund disaster funding can only be used for activities and costs associated with the repair or replacement of a public housing project only if the public housing project was damaged because of an emergency or non-presidentially declared natural disaster. Activities to be performed are to provide emergency safety measures for public housing residents that can include relocation and the cost to provide temporary housing to public housing residents until public housing units can be repaired and can be covered by the emergency and non-presidentially declared natural disaster grant (such as hotel, moving van rental, temporary storage, boxes.). Activities to be performed are contained within the grantee's approved grant application. Examples of typical emergency situations can include but not limited to elevator failures in elderly buildings, water pipe burst and flooding situations, sewage backup and intrusions, seismic activity damage, tree root intrusion, failed HVAC system, and boiler loss during cold weather.

Expected outcomes

The expected outcomes for public housing emergency/disaster capital funds are the immediate safety measures for public housing residents and the remediation of the specific approved emergency/disaster project. The measurable outcome of this grant is that HUD will be able to track the amount of dollars spent on emergency and disaster eligible activities based on the approved grant application.

Intended beneficiaries

The intended beneficiaries for public housing emergency/disaster capital funds are low-income public housing residents.

Subrecipient activities

The recipient does not intend to subaward funds.