The county's Housing and Redevelopment Authority once again received its annual Housing and Urban Development grant in an amount that is about $250,000 more than that of the previous presidential administration.

Ed Mauk, chief executive officer at the authority, said the federal funds come annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to renovate public housing properties, make essential purchases for those properties or pay down debt associated with them.

The 2020 grant is almost $765,000, which is up almost $6,500 over last year.

In 2017, the HUD grant amount received by the authority was $477,674.

“Under President Trump, it's been a whole lot higher than in the past,” Mauk said. “It has allowed us to take on some projects and get some things done.”

He said the county has 452 public housing units spread among the Terrace and Cliffside apartments in Butler, Graystone Manor in Slippery Rock, President's Square in Evans City, Maple Court in Zelienople and various other units in Butler.

The increased HUD grants in the past few years have allowed the authority to bring Terrace Apartments into compliance with accessibility requirements, replace generators at various properties, pay bond debt down and operate the properties, Mauk said.

Regarding neighboring counties, Beaver County received considerably more HUD funds than Butler County at $4.5 million, Armstrong at $1.1 million, Lawrence at $1.9 million and Mercer at $96,683.