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Local Development
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Community Development Block Grant For Public Facilities (CDBG-PF)
(CDBG-PF) is a versatile financing tool for general purpose local units of government in need of funds to undertake needed infrastructure and public building projects (excluding buildings for the conduct of government). The Program is designed to enhance the vitality of a community by undertaking public investment that contributes to its overall community and economic development. The CDBG program is federally funded and all assisted projects must comply with the federal requirements that accompany the funds. To be awarded funds, projects must meet one of three National Objectives for the program. They are 1) the project principally benefits low and moderate-income persons, 2) the project eliminates slum and blight, and 3), the proposed activity meets an urgent local need. Urgent local need projects are typically catastrophic events. Other federal requirements that accompany the CDBG funds are the payment of federal wage rates on construction projects, compliance with environmental review and assessment pr ocedures, and undertaking actions to affirmatively further fair housing. Commerce staff works with applicants and grant recipients to effectively and efficiently address the federal requirements. The result has been the funding and implementation through completion of thousands of CDBG assisted projects in the state since 1974 when the program was started by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and also during Commerce administration of the program since 1982. Although not the answer for all community and economic development needs, hundreds of communities throughout the state have been able to access the funds for their use. The program is worth checking out! MEETING THE LOW AND MODERATE-INCOME NATIONAL OBJECTIVE The U.S. Census 2000 low and moderate-income (LMI) Census data is used to determine an applicant's area-wide eligibility for funding under the CDBG Program's National Objective of "benefit to low and moderate-income persons. Per communications with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there is no rounding of the Census data. A community with an LMI population of 50.6 percent is not eligible to claim community-wide LMI benefit. The LMI percentage must be 51 percent or higher. Community-wide surveys done previously are no longer accepted since the 2000 Census LMI data is now available. Communities interested in doing a survey to determine what they feel is a more accurate representation of the LMI population should contact program staff for further information and guidance. We are particularly concerned about significant differences between Census LMI data and survey data. We first want to discuss with you the justification for a survey in light of the recent Census data. A hard copy of the data for Wisconsin communities is available by contacting Jim Frymark at (608) 608-266-2742. The cost is $10.00 for copying and mailing or may be downloaded here LMI 2000 Census Data. The listing of the Census eligible communities will also be included in the revised Project Proposal to be posted on this page soon. Interest in the Public Facilities Block Grant Program continues to remain high. Program information and application materials are found below on this web page, but the following is a list of some of the considerations that enhance proposals.
FACTORS CONSIDERED DURING THE REVIEW OF CDBG APPLICATION When considering the submission of a CDBG-Public Facilities application, applicant's should be aware that the review of an application takes into consideration a number of other considerations in addition to assigning points in the 4 point categories. These point categories and Other Considerations are described in the application. The "Other Considerations" can have a significant bearing on the outcome of the review. The demand for CDBG funds is greater than ever given the overall budget woes of all units of government. Also, the beginnings of a recovering economy is placing considerable demand for CDBG funding, specifically for infrastructure improvements that will enable businesses to startup or expand and provide much needed jobs and additional tax base for communities. Funds are limited and funding decisions are more difficult than ever. Financial need is a major consideration. Not only is the financial need of the community considered, but also that of the residents/households benefiting from the project. It is for this reason the Department, when looking at water and sewer projects, looks at the community's Enterprise Statements (financial statements for the water and sewer utilities) and household utility rates and how they compare to household income in the community. Proposals from communities with current or projected household utility rates in excess of 3% of household income have a stronger chance at funding. However, the 3% figure is not necessarily a make or break figure. Consideration is also given to the amount of funds being held by the utility. Typically, water and sewer projects are financed with revenue bonds that are paid back with user fees. It is for this reason we look at the household utility rates. We have found in our review of water and sewer pro jects a wide range of household utility bills, ranging from a few hundred dollars a year to over a thousand. We try to help those in greatest need. Applications for projects for activities that are typically funded out of general obligation bonds typically are subject to a review of the applicant's general obligation capacity, debt incurred to date, and remaining capacity. The Department has always reviewed financial need and it has become apparent that the need has intensified for some communities during the past 22 years of grant administration. Also looked at is the amount of other public funding going into a project as well as the amount of CDBG funding received to date. The considerations include a number of factors and it is for this reason that potential applicants are advised to review their project prior to submitting an application. Staff will do their best to provide an assessment of the prospects for funding given the information at hand at the time of the contact. IMPLEMENTATION HANDBOOK Now available in a Word Document is the Implementation Manual (Please Note: when printing the manual, the first page number at the bottom of each page corresponds to the chapter number, the second number after the hyphen is used when instructing your printer what page numbers you want printed. This was done intentionally to assist you in printing. For example, if you only want to print Chapter 3, instruct your printer to print pages 23 to 59, which are all of the pages in Chapter 3). Numbering of the Implementation Manual on the web is different from the hard copy. Do not make cross-reference using page numbers. The Implementation Manual Note: Use the Implementation Manual that was effective at the time your project was funded. CDBG STAFF
Sandy Herfel (608) 266-2435 An applicant must be able to demonstrate that at least 51 percent of the beneficiaries will be low- or moderate-income, meaning that household income is below 80 percent of the median household income. If you need to conduct a community-wide or target area income survey to document this requirement, please use the CDBG Income Survey Guide (includes county household income limits). ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES (Non Exclusive)
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS Eligible applicants are units of local government including towns, villages, cities and counties. Entitlement cities (populations of 50,000 or more) and Milwaukee and most of Dane and Waukesha Counties are not eligible. FUNDING AVAILABILITY The maximum annual grant for any single applicant is $750,000. To enable funding of more applicants, few grant awards exceed $500,000. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS Previous grant recipients must be in compliance with all current and past contract obligations. Project Proposals may be submitted at any time. Applicants are limited to one grant per 12-month period. Applications are to be submitted to:
REVIEW AND AWARD PROCESS Applications are scored on a point system that considers the applicant's overall distress, need for the improvement, ability to pay for the improvement, leveraging of other funds, and project readiness. The Department rates applications through a series of individual and panel reviews. PROJECT ADMINSTRATION The award recipient will be responsible for project administration. This includes but is not limited to, submitting requests for funds and progress reports, conducting Labor Standards reviews, keeping financial management records, preparing closeout reports and meeting other contractual obligations. To obtain more information on this and other Commerce funding programs, contact us using the address, or fax number listed above. OTHER FUNDING SOURCES Other grant funds and/or loans are available for drinking and wastewater projects. Please refer to the following document which will assist you in determining other funding sources. To read PDF files, you will need a copy
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