Benton Harbor City Commissioners have accepted a $440,000 Michigan State Housing Development Authority grant to pay for repairs to the homes of low income and senior residents.

At their regular meeting this week, commissioners were told the funding, which comes from the federal government, could be used in concert with Community Development Block Grant funding that already goes to the same use.

Commissioner Emma Kinnard questioned whether the city’s home repair program does a thorough job of fixing issues in the homes of residents. City Manager Alex Little said it’s true that some homes will have more needs than the program can address.

“We know when we go in there and so do the owners of that property because we tell them,” Little said. “We have them understand up front that we’re not going to be able to do all of the stuff that’s there, that we’re going to do the best we can to try to help make the situation better.”

Little said if there are electrical problems, for example, the city will fix those first to avoid a fire hazard.

Little said low and moderate-income residents who own their homes typically qualify for the program.

Mayor Marcus Muhammad said the good thing is that more money is now available for home repairs through this grant. He noted the deadline to accept the grant is February 14, and the commission’s next meeting won’t be until after that date. Commissioners then voted to accept, with Commissioner Kinnard casting the lone vote of no.