CHAPEL HILL - A big cut in federal and county funding to nonprofits this year will force the Chapel Hill Town Council to make tougher decisions about who gets the money.

Chapel Hill’s Community Development Block Grants money was cut about 22 percent this year and federal funding for the HOME program, a county-wide housing program for low-income families was cut about 48 percent.

The town received 17 applications for about $1 million in CDBG money but was awarded only $410,467 for the grants. The town proposes to distribute that money to several nonprofits, which qualify for funds under specific categories like public service activities and housing projects.

The Marian Cheek Jackson Center, which works to preserve and promote the Northside and Pine Knolls neighborhoods asked for $20,000 in CDBG money but was initially allocated $5,000.

The group and several Northside residents recently asked the Town Council for more money to implement the center’s initiatives and a preservation plan the council approved earlier this year.

“We really need your support, and it needs to be more than the $5,000 that’s recommended,” said Hudson Vaughan, an associate director for the group.

Keith Edwards, a Northside resident, said the Jackson Center has given her and her neighbors hope as their community has changed. The town needs to remember the have-nots in the community who need more affordable housing, she said.

“What happened in Northside should not have happened and the town should not have let that happen, but it did happen,” she said. “The have-nots feel like they’re being pushed right out of town.”

Several council members agreed and asked town staff to find a way to give the Jackson Center more money.

“I definitely feel [that] the level of support that’s represented here doesn’t represent the level of the value they have in our community,” said Council member Donna Bell, who lives in Northside.

Council member Jim Ward asked that the highest grants be “shaved down” to give the Jackson Center an additional $10,000.

The cuts to the HOME and CDBG money is significant, said Council member Laurin Easthom. Grants for local nonprofits continue to be reduced, said Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt. All the CDBG grants this year are lower than in the past, he said.

“This pot is a vey shallow pot ... and only a few dollars can come out of it anyway,” he said.

Funding for the HOME program is provided by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development and CDBG funds are included in the federal budget.

The HOME program allocated $504,031 to four housing groups; two got more than they requested.

• $146,591 to Habitat for Humanity for 10 zero-interest mortgages for homebuyers in Phoenix Place and to build homes in Tinnin Woods in the Efland Cheeks townships (Habitat asked for $125,000.)

• $191,591 to Community Home Trust for homeownership assistance and operating costs (It asked for $170,000.)

• $37,500 to the Inter-Church Council Housing Corporation to renovate the Elliott Woods and Chase Park apartments

• $90,000 to Empowerment, Inc. to purchase two condominiums at Abbey Court in Carrboro

• $38,348 for Orange County administrative costs

Groups that receive money from both programs are evaluated based on their performance and funding need for existing projects, said Loryn Clark, a planner with the town.