A vital source of federal funding for the parts of our region that need it most is on the chopping block as part of the president’s proposed budget. Many of our federal, state and local government leaders expressed opposition to the proposal, and local residents should consider doing the same.

Belmont County commissioners last week objected to the proposed elimination of the Community Development Block Grant program. It provides federal dollars to low- to moderate-income areas for a wide variety of important purposes. It is money local governments have come to rely on over the past 40 years.

CDBG funds can be used for all sorts of projects, such as road repair and resurfacing, swimming pool maintenance, demolition of dangerous structures, providing affordable housing and making existing facilities handicapped accessible. The type and scope of the work varies according to the area receiving the funding, as needs of rural regions differ from those of more densely populated communities.

Locally in recent years, CDBG money has been sought to replace failing fire hydrants in Bellaire. It has been directed to volunteer fire department to purchase needed equipment. It has been invested to fund directed police patrols in East Wheeling and on Wheeling Island. And it has been used to support projects and organizations such as the Nelson Jordan Center recreation facility, Wheeling Health Right, Family Service-Upper Ohio Valley and the Seeing Hand Association, among many others.

Belmont County commissioners received about a dozen requests for CDBG project funding last year and were able to fund three of them. The situation is similar in Monroe, Harrison and Jefferson counties, where officials must determine which projects are most needed.

“If Congress adopts any part of the president’s budget, then this program is gone,” Belmont County Commissioner Mark Thomas said.

That is cause for concern, and the commission formally expressed that on Wednesday. Federal lawmakers, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, have urged the president to reconsider his proposal to eliminate the CDBG program and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Members of the public can help ensure the president and Congress take these concerns seriously by calling, writing or emailing their federal representatives and senators. Information about how to contact them can be found elsewhere on this page.