What is the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)? The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that provides funds to communities for a variety of public projects and services. 1
When was CDBG established? The CDBG Program was established by Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, the primary goal of CDBG is to develop and strengthen viable urban communities by providing decent housing and suitable living environments principally for low-and moderate-income persons. 2
Henry County CDBG Henry County, Georgia is a new federal CDBG Program entitlement Urban County. As such, the county will receive CDBG funds each year from HUD for housing and community development activities. The County qualifies as an urban county having a population of at least 200,000. 3
Henry County CDBG Cont. Block grant funds are made available annually through HUD. The amount of each entitlement grant can change annually. A statutory formula, which includes an objective analysis of community needs based on poverty, population, and age of housing stock, is used to determine the actual annual allocation to entitlement entities.
Henry County CDBG Cont. County CDBG funds will be used to address a variety of housing, public service, public facilities, infrastructure, and economic development needs within Henry County and all of the municipalities located within its boundaries. Specifically, the Cities of Hampton, Locust Grove, McDonough and Stockbridge in addition to the unincorporated areas of Henry County will be served through the utilization of CDBG funds. 5
National Objectives • Benefits low and moderate income persons • Prevents or eliminates the presence of slum and or blight • Addresses community development needs having a particular urgency of recent origin, due to existing conditions posing a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community within 18 months for which other funding is not available. See Section II of the CDBG Program Manual for more on CDBG National Objectives 6
Henry County Priorities Henry County’s funding • Housing Needs priorities and policies for CDBG • Homeless Needs are a result of the County’s 5 - • Community Development year Consolidated Plan Needs process. Henry County CDBG projects shall be designed to meet the goals and objectives of the County’s current year 2012-2016 Consolidated Plan. See Section V of CDBG Program Manual
Developing a CDBG Project • Meet a National Objective; • Be an Eligible Activity; • Be Adequately Documented; and • Must have other funding for each FY14 CDBG Applications project/activity. CDBG are due on Wednesday, is not sole source February 19 by 5:00 pm. funding.
Step 1: Meeting the National Objectives All projects and services must meet at least one (1) of the following: • Provide a benefit to low- to moderate-income persons and/or households; • Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or • Meet an urgent community development need of recent origin that threatens the health or welfare of residents.
Criteria for Activities Benefiting Low/Moderate Income Persons A low- or moderate-income person is defined in the statute as a member of a household having an annual income equal to or less than 80% of the median income as defined by HUD. The two pertinent median income limits for CDBG are as follows: • Low income = 50% of median • Moderate income = 80% of median The median income changes annually, therefore, the household’s low - and moderate-income levels may also change. Every applicant must document the income levels of the potential beneficiaries of CDBG funding at the time of application submission to ensure that at least 44.6% of the beneficiaries’ for Area Benefit project and 51% of all other LMI classifications to meet HUD guidelines. Activities, which benefit low/mod income persons, may be classified as providing: • Area Benefit • Limited Clientele Benefit to persons of low/moderate income • Housing Benefit to persons of low/moderate income • Job Creation or Retention for persons of low/moderate income For income guidelines, see Appendix A of the CDBG Program Manual.
Benefit to Low-and Moderate-Income (LMI) Persons (§570.208(a)) • Area Benefit (§570.208(a)(1)) Establish the boundaries of the service area of the proposed community development project. The service area must be primarily residential in character and the activity must meet locally identified needs. HUD requires that at least 44.6 percent of the residents be persons of low- to moderate- income. • Limited Clientele Benefit (§570.208(a)(2)) These are non- housing activities that benefit a specific group of people, rather than all the residents in a particular area. HUD requires that at least 51 percent of the members of these specific groups be persons of low- to moderate- income. Data on incomes of users must be available from the files of the service agency or sponsoring organization unless the activity is Presumed Benefit.
Benefit to LMI cont. • Presumed Benefit Having benefit to a clientele generally presumed to be principally low/moderate income persons. – Abused children – Severely disabled adults (as defined by the Bureau of Census) – Elderly persons (62 years of age and over) – Illiterate adults – Migrant farm workers – Battered spouses – Persons with HIV/AIDS – Homeless persons
Benefit to LMI cont. • Nature/ Location Be of such nature and location that it may be concluded that the beneficiaries will primarily be low- and moderate-income persons. • The use of Nature/Location must be approved by HUD prior to award.
Benefit to LMI cont. • LMI Housing Activities (§570.208(a)(3)) Primarily used for the rehabilitation of residential and mixed-use buildings. – Does the activity benefit LMI households, or remove blight, and – Is the applicant an eligible public or private non-profit organization or a special limited profit corporation? Only Permanent housing is eligible under this subcategory for LMI benefit. The income of all adults (not necessarily related) living in the household must be combined and compared to the income limit for the number of persons living in the household.
Benefit to LMI cont. • LMI Job Creation or Retention Activities (§570.208(a)(4)) – Job Creation the recipient must document that at least 51 percent of the jobs created will be held by, or will be available to LMI persons. – Job Retention the recipient must document that the jobs would actually be lost without CDBG assistance
Criteria for Activities to Prevent or Eliminate Slums or Blight Activities that address the prevention or elimination of slums or blight may be classified as: • An Area Basis • A Spot Basis
Area Basis In order to qualify under the National Objective of slums/blight on an Area Basis , an activity must meet all of the following criteria: • The area must be designated as a slum/blight area by the governing jurisdiction; and must meet the definition of a slum, blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating area under state or local law. • A substantial number of deteriorated or deteriorating buildings or public improvements must be located throughout the area. • Documentation must be maintained by the governing jurisdiction on the boundaries of the area and the conditions, which qualified the area under this objective at the time of designation. • The activity must address one of the conditions which contributed to the deterioration of the area. Potentially eligible activities include assistance to commercial or industrial businesses; public facilities and improvements; and code enforcement provided the assistance is designed to address one or more of the specific conditions which qualified the area.
Spot Basis In order to qualify under the National Objective of prevention or elimination of slums or blight on a Spot Basis , the activity must meet all of the following criteria: • The activity must be designed to eliminate specific conditions of blight or physical decay at a specific location not incorporated in a slum or blighted area; and • The activity must be limited to acquisition, clearance, relocation, historic preservation, or building rehabilitation to eliminate specific conditions detrimental to public health and safety. Potentially eligible activities under the objective to prevent or eliminate slums or blight on a spot basis include the removal of faulty wiring or falling plaster; historic preservation of a public facility; and demolition of a vacant, deteriorated, (non-historic) abandoned building.
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