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SW0501-CS050216 INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FY200S CDBO PROJECTS oo5 / C~TY MANAGER' _ ~. ~I_T~ ~F~O~PELL~ D~L~: d~e o, ~, · .,~, ~;~ ~.m. (l) (3) Cities may use their CDBG funds to undertake a wide variety of activities (e.g. - reconstructing roads, installing water lines, building playgrounds, demolishing substandard slmcturos, making buildings ADA-accessible, etc.) as long as the project meets one of the tkree following national objectives: eliminate blight eliminate a community-threatening condition principally benefit low/moderate income people In order to meet the blight elimination objective, a city must formally designate the geographic area in which the blight elimination activity will occur as "blighted." The elimination of a community-threatening condition occurs when a city seeks, for instance, to rebuild a water tower that was destroyed by a tornado, the city certifies that it does not have funds of its own to rebuild the water tower, 0nd the condition occurred within the last year. Projects that principally benefit low/moderate income people arc those where at least 51% of the people that directly benefit or directly receive assistance fi.om the project are of low/moderate income. Please note that planning studies and ADA accommodations are generally automatically ass,reed to meet one of the three national objectives. HUD regulations prevent thc usc of CDBG funds for routine maintenance and operations, for improvements to thoroughfares, and for improvements to city halls. It is also not possible to place funds in contingency or in unallocatcd reserve. These regulations also limit the extent to which CDBG can be used for planning studies (a total of up to $72,546 may be allocated for planning studies by all of the participating cities) and for public services (it is not possible to fund any public services with the FY2005 CDBG award). Please note that if a city's proposed activity is ineligible, then it will be asked to revise the activity. While the County no longer operates a honsing rehab program; it does operate another program that demolishes owner-occupied low/moderate Income homes that are too dilapidated to be rehabilitated and replaces them with new homes that arc constructed on the same lot. Approximately $700,000 will be available for nsc in the CDBG program's fourteen-city service area for the fiscal year that will begin on October 1. The maximum amount of assistance that the County will provide for one honse is $70,000. If your city would like to ensure that funding will specifically be available for its residents or if your city's building regulations will require a house in excess of $70,000 to be built, then it is possible to set aside some or all of your city's FY2005 CDBG award for only eligible people who live within your city. (5) (7) (8) All CDBG entitlement counties like Dallas County must meet a HUD-imposed spending requirement every July 31. Failure to meet this requirement can result in the County having to forfeit CDBG funding. So that the County will be able to consistently meet ItL~'s annual spending requirement, all projects (other than those that are code enforcement- related) must have budgets of at least $30,000. Also, cities need to carefully limit the number of projects for which they wish to allocate CDBG funding. In particular, cities need to first allocate all or a significant majority of their FY2005 CDBG funding to those currently existing, but under-funded/uncompleted, projects before allocating funding for any new projects. Cities that seek to undertake many different projects or that do not provide completion funding for already existing projects will be asked to revise their proposals. Cities may reallocate unexpended CDBG funds from previous years and combine them with FY2005 funds. If this is done, please note on the Project/Activity Application how much money from the new allocation and from previous awards is being used and for what purpose. Maps with delineated boundaries of the service area for each project/activity must be attached if the project/activity is not city-wide. For capital improvement projects, the map must show the specific location of the project. The service area boundaries for CDBG projects must be determined as follows: FOR WATER/SEWER PROJECTS: Those properties that directly tie into the water/sewer line. FOR RESIDENTIAL ROAD PROJECTS: Those properties that directly abut the improved road. FOR FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS: protected by the improvements. The portion of the city that will be FOR PARKS/COMMUNITY CENTERS: The portion of the city that is served by the park/center. If the park/center will be the only facility of its type within the city, then its service area will be city-wide regardless of where it is located. FOR CODE PROGRAMS: The portion of the city that is served by the program. Please note that unless the council formally desi~ates a portion of its city as being blighted, the program must serve an area where the majority of the residents are low/moderate income. FOR STUDIES: The portion oftbe city that is covered by the study. To determine the number of people that will be assisted by a project, 2000 census data can be used if the boundaries of the service area coincide exactly with a census tract/block group; a copy of such data for the County's CDBG service area is attached. If the boundaries do not exactly coincide with census information, then the attached survey must be used and at least a 75% response rate must be obtained if there are more than 50 homes in the project area (if (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) there are less than 50 homes, then an 85% response rote must be obtained). Previous surveys may be used if they are no more than three years old. If surveys are used to determine the number of people that will be assisted by a project, a survey tabulation form, along with copies of each completed citizen survey form, must be returned with each associated Project/Activity Application. Projects must be conducted in and serve the County's unincorporated area or any of the fourteen cities that participate in the County's program. According to the 2000 census, the percentage of the population o f each participating city that was low/moderate income is as follows: Baleh Springs 59.4% Wilmer 64.3% Cockrell Hill 72.2% Glenn Heights 40.4% Cedar Hill 29.9% Duncanville 37.5% Saehse 20.4% Seagoville 51.7% Hutchins 63.6% Lancaster 46.2% Rowlett 20.2% Farmers Branch 38.7% Coppell 11.9% The maximum income that a household can have and be considered as low/moderate income is currently: Size of Household Income Limit 1 $ 37,250 2 $ 42,550 3 $ 47,900 4 $ 53,200 5 $ 57,450 6 $ 61,700 7 $ 65,950 8+ $ 70,200 Each city that wishes to utilize its CDBG award must conduc~ at least one public hearing to help identify possible projects. The notice for this public hearing must be posted in accordance with State law. To help promote these public hearings, Dallas County is going to have a notice published in the Dallas Morning News. This notice will include the times, dates, and locations for all known public hearings. To be included in this notice, please contact Klm Nobles at (214) 653-6368 by March 25, 2005. All cities interested in utilizing their FY2005 CDBG allocation must fully complete the attached Project/Activity Application for each project that they wish to fund. Please do not combine several projects in one application, and please do not seek to address some of the application's information requirements by asking the reviewer to refer to a previous year' s proposal. In addition, please note the following specific inslxuetions for completing an application: 3 (15) 06) (17) (18) Number of Beneficiaries: The m~mber of people who will benefit from the project; this is usually the people who physically live adjacent to any capital improvement or who live within an area that is being served or studied by the project. % Low/Moderate Income: The percentage of the number of beneficiaries that earn no more than the income limits contained in item (12) of these instructions. Project Description: Description should be adequate enough to determine what is being proposed and why. For capital improvement projects, it must also describe where the project is being located, what its beginnirlg and end points are, and whether easements will need to be acquired. Total Budget: Indicate how much total money, regardless of whether it is CDBG or some other funding and regardless ofwbether ail of the funding is currently available, is needed to complete the project. Projected Start Date: The soonest that projects can begin is October 1, 2005. Projected Completion Date: Please take into consideration the time it will take to hire engineers, to have projects designed, to hire contractors, to have the actual work done, etc. It is critical that the projected start/completion dates are realistic and that if a city is going to be the primary implementing entity for a project, that the project be undertaken and completed as soon as possible so that the CDBG program will be able to meet HUD's annual spending requirement. Cities that do not substantially meet their proposed schedules without extenuating circumstances may experience a reduction in future funding. Similarly, cities that propose projects that they estimate will not be able to be started and/or completed within a reasonable time may be asked to develop alternative projects. It is important that cities carefully select their projects. There have been more instances over the past several years of cities changing their projects within several months of the original submission deadline. This not only delays the implementation of a project, but it also complicates the CDBG program's ability to meet HUD's spending requirement. As a result, requests to change projects are not encouraged and will now generally only be considered when there are compelling reasons and/or when the change allows for CDBG funds to.be more readily expended. All Project/Activity Applications must be accompanied with a resolution from the city council that authorizes the submission of the proposed projects/activities. If a city is not interested in utilizing its award, please notify the County as soon as possible so that this money can be reallocated. (19) (20) (21) (22) All information pertalning to how a city wishes to utilize its CDBG award must be submitted to the County, Attention: Klm Nobles, 411 Elm Stzeet, 3'0 Floor, Dallas, Texas 75202, by 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 3, 2005. ff such information is not provided by this deadline, then it will be assumed that the entity is not interested in utilizing its award, and this money will be realloeated to the other participating entities. All cities must submit a short list of potential projects before May 10, 2005. Please fax this list to Klm Nobles at (214) 653-6517 or mail to the address above. It is understood that the projects included on this list may not have been yet received by the city council before this date or that a city may'not have yet held its ~lulred public hearing. However, this short list will enable CDBG staff to make an assessment of eligibility as well as other program requirements that may be necessary for the successful completion of that particular project before any formal decisions are made by your city. In the short list please include a cost estimate for the project. Please note that the short list is not intended to replace the full application which is due on June 3, 2005. Cities are strongly encouraged to contact the County and allow it to preliminarily review possible projects before the June 3, 2005 deadline. County staffis available to assist each entity in developing and in reviewing possible projects and to an~qwer any questions that might arise. Please call either KimNobles (214/653-6368), Rachel Brown (214/653-6359), or Rick Loessberg (214/653-7601 ) for general assistance and questions about project eligibility. For questions that pertain to capital improvement projects, please call Abel Saldana at (214) 653-6240.