Section 498-14-1 - PROGRAM OVERVIEWA. CDBG OBJECTIVES The objective of the Maine CDBG Program is to serve as a catalyst for local governments to implement programs which:
1. benefit low and moderate income people;2. are part of a long range community strategy;3. improve deteriorated residential and business districts and local economic conditions;4. provide the conditions and incentives for further public and private investment; and5. foster partnerships between groups of municipalities, State and federal entities, multi-jurisdictional organizations and the private sector to address common community and economic development problems with innovative solutions that maximize resources.B. METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE The DECD, through the Office of Community Development (OM), designs and offers programs allowing municipalities to achieve CDBG stated objectives. The purpose of the 1995 Final Statement is to provide units of local government with a description of the selection criteria for each program (called a method of distribution) that OCD will use to allocate CDBG funds among Maine communities. To assist communities in determining which program(s) best meet their needs, we have grouped the 1995 programs under three broad methods of distribution areas: Community Development, Economic Development and Planning.
1. Community Development Methods of Distributiona. Housing assistance Grants: To provide financing to address acute housing needs of low and moderate income persons residing in the State of Maine.b. Public Facilities/Infrastructure Grants: To provide financing for local infrastructure and public facility activities.c. Public service Grants: To address human resource needs in a community by providing funding for operating expenses, equipment and program materials for public service programs.d. Urgent Need Grants: To enable communities to address community development needs having a particular urgency.e. Reserved Grants: To provide funding for the second year of a Housing Assistance or Public Facilities/Infrastructure grant initially determined in the previous year.2. Economic Development Methods of Distributiona. Development Fund: To provide financial resources to local governments which, in turn assist businesses to create/retain jobs for low and moderate income people.b. Regional Assistance Fund: To provide financial resources to local governments or multi-jurisdictional organizations which can use the assistance as leverage to obtain funds under the EDA Economic Adjustment Assistance Program (Title DC) and the EDA Public Works Program (Title I), Planner Is Home Administration Programs, and Small Business Administration Programs.c. Micro-Loan Program: To provide communities with funds for small loans to assist existing and new local businesses create/retain jobs for low and moderate incomed. Economic Development Infrastructure Grants: To provide funding to communities where public infrastructure must be installed or improved to enable an existing or new business to create/retain jobs for low and moderate income people.e. Interim Finance Program: To utilize funds not disbursed in the State's Letter of Credit for grants to communities to assist businesses or developers create housing and job opportunities for low and moderate income people through short-term loans.3. Planning Methods of Distribution a. Phase II Planning Grants: To assist communities in the Proposed development of their CDBG strategies that address specific community development problems.b. General Purpose Planning Grants: To provide funding to communities or community partnerships that have clearly identified a local community or economic development problem and lack the resources to develop a strategy for solving that problem.c. Quality Main Street Strategy Grants: To provide financial assistance to communities for the development of strategies to revitalize main streets and downtowns.C. STATE ADMINISTRATION 1. General Administration Allocation: The DECD, through OCD, pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (through October 28, 1992), Section 106(d) (3) (A) is permitted and will utilize $100,000 plus 2% of its annual allotment from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in administering the State's Small Cities CDBG Program in accordance with Federal, State and local requirements.2. Technical Assistance Administration Allocation: The DECD, through OCD, pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (through October 28, 1992), Section 106(d) (5) is permitted and will utilize 1% of its annual allotment from HUD to provide technical assistance to local governments and nonprofit program recipients.D. PROGRAM TIMEFRAME All application deadlines are listed below.
| Quality Main; street strategy and |
| General Purpose Planning | February 16, 1995 |
| Housing Assistance | November 18, 1994 |
| Public Facilities/Infrastructure | December 2, 1994 |
| Micro-Loan and Public Service | December 16, 1994 |
| Economic Development Infrastructure | November 18, 1994 |
| March 29, 1995 |
| June 1, 1995 |
| Urgent Need | 1st come basis beginning |
| February 1, 1995 |
| Development Fund | 1st Thursday of month |
| Regional Assistance Fund | see Section 3. D. 4. (a) |
| Interim Finance Program | 1st come basis |
E. PROGRAM BUDGET The budget an the next page indicates the manner in which CDBG Funds will be allocated among programs for the 1995 grant year. The total budget is comprised of a federal allocation from HUD, along with a State match equivalent of up to 2% of the federal allocation. The amount of the 1995 federal allocation is projected to be $14,339,000. Based on the estimated federal amount, the maximum amount available for each program is indicated in the following budget.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM BUDGET GRANT YEAR 1995
| Projected FY 1995 CDBG Program Budget 1 $17,181,000 |
| Administration 443,620 |
| Technical Assistance Administration 171,000 |
| MAXIMUM BUDGET |
| 1. Housing Assistance Grants |
| Single community 2,000,000 |
| Multi-jurisdictional 1,075,000 |
| 2. Public Facilities/Infrastructure |
| Sub Category 1 3,200,000 |
| Sub Category 2 1,250,000 |
| Sub Category 3 225,000 |
| 3. Public Service Grants 287,500 |
| 4. Urgent Need Grants 300,000 |
| 5. Reserved Grants 2,000,000 |
| 6. Development Fund 350,000 |
| 7. Regional Assistance Fund 1,400,000 |
| 8. Micro Loan Program 475,000 |
| 9. Economic Development Infrastructure Program 3,153,880 |
| 10. Interim Finance Program 2 See Below |
| 11. Phase II Planning Grants 100,000 |
| 12. General Purpose Planning Grants 150,000 |
| 13. Quality Main Street Strategy Grants 400,000 |
| 14. Technical Assistance Grants 200,000 |
1 The total program budget is comprised of a projected federal allocation of $17,181,000 plus a State match to equal at least $343,620 (which is 2% of the-federal allocation).
2 The budget for the Interim Finance Program is comprised of monies not yet disbursed from each of the other programs. These monies are lent on a short term basis. The maximum budget for this program is $5,000,000. This program is capitalized only as loans are issued.
F. THRESHOLD CRITERIA FOR THE 1995 CDBG PROGRAM(1) The following State and Federal Regulations APPLY TO ALL PROGRAMS: Federal and State Certifications for Local Governments:
All communities applying for CDBG funds must certify that they will:
(i) minimize displacement and adhere to a locally adopted displacement policy in compliance with Section 104(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended:(ii) take action to affirmatively further fair housing and comply with the provisions of the civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968;(iii) not attempt to recover certain capital costs of improvements funded in part with CDBG monies;(iv) establish a community development plan;(v) meet all required State and Federal public participation(vi) comply with the Federal requirements of Section 319 of Public Law 101-122 regarding government-wide restriction on lobbying;(vii) with the exception of administrative or personnel costs, verify that no person who is an employee, agent, consultant, officer, or elected official or appointed official of State or local government or of any designated public agencies, or subrecipients which are receiving CDBG funding may obtain a financial interest or benefit, have an interest in or benefit from the activity, or have an interest in any contract, subcontract or agreement with respect to CDBG activities;(viii) reviewed the project proposed in the application to be sure that it complies with the community's comprehensive plan and/or applicable state and local land use requirements.(2) The following general requirements APPLY TO ALL PROGRAMS:(a) Prohibition on Multiple Grants: Units of local government and unorganized territories may not benefit from more than one grant per program per grant year.(b) Prohibition on Subsequent Year Award: Units of general local government and unorganized territories that benefited from a 1993 two year award, (whether a single community or a part of a of a multi-jurisdictional program), may not apply again in that specific program until the 1996 program. Units of local government that benefited from a 1994 single year award may not apply again in that specific program until the 1996 program. Units of local government and unorganized territories that received a 1994 two year award may not apply again in that specific program until the 1997 program. Prohibition against subsequent year awards is program specific.(c) Computation of Distress Scores - Multi-Jurisdictional Applications: Distress scores for multi-jurisdictional applications will be computed an a weighted average basis. (population 1)(distress 1)+(population 2)(distress 2)+.../population 1 + population 2 +... = weighted average distress score.
(d) Phase II Planning Grants: Pursuant to Section 4A of this Final Statement, Phase II participants will be eligible for planning grant funds on an as needed basis to assist payment of project development costs. Extent of assistance shall be determined by OCD staff.(e) Two Year Grant Criteria: (APPLICABLE TO ONLY THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS: PUBLIC FACILITIES/INFRASTRUCTURE (PFIG) PROGRAM SUBCATEGORY 1, AND THE HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM). Applicants may be awarded a two year grant if they meet all three of the following criteria:(i) The timeframe required to complete the proposed grant activities must exceed the maximum 18 month period allowed for a single year grant:(ii) The total amount of requested funds must exceed the maximum limit allowed for a single year grant or a multi-jurisdictional project in that program;(iii) The activities proposed for the second year of the grant must be related to, and necessary to complete, activities proposed for the first year; OR, the proposed second year activities must be related to, and necessary to complete, the overall project begun in the first year.(3) The following Threshold criteria APPLY ONLY TO THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS: * Housing Assistance (HA) * Public Service Grant(PSG)
* Economic Development Infrastructure (EDI) * Micro Loan (ML)
* Public Facilities Infrastructure (PFIG)
(a) Threshold Criteria: The State will distribute CDBG funds to local governments through the annual CDBG Selection Process. The threshold criteria for the process are listed below: (i) Eligible Applicants: All units of general local government in Maine, including plantations, are eligible to apply for and receive CDBG funds. County governments may apply an behalf of unorganized territories. Counties may make more than one application, per program, but only on behalf of different unorganized territories. Groups of local governments may apply for multi-jurisdictional or joint projects. These multi-jurisdictional applications require designation of one local government as the lead applicant and consent for that designation by each participating local government.(ii) Ineligible Applicants: The entitlement communities of Portland, Bangor, Lewiston, and Auburn are not eligible to receive State CDBG program. funds. Except as designated in 1(a) above, County governments are not eligible applicants.(iii) Project Eligibility: Upon receipt by the OCD, applications will be reviewed to determine the eligibility of the activities the applicant proposes to undertake with CDBG funds. Those activities must be included in 1(c) of that program and be eligible under 24 CFR, Part 570.482. In the event an application contains an activity not listed in 1(c) of that program, the entire application will be judged riot to have net the project eligibility criteria. In all cases, the applicant will be notified in writing of the determination made by OCD.(b) Phase II Project Development:(i) Invitation to Proceed: Applicants will be placed in rank order from highest to lowest according to the scores determined by the scoring team. Starting at the top of the scoring list, applicants mill be invited to proceed to Phase II until the funding available in that program is exhausted while an invitation into Phase II is not a guarantee of funding, communities will receive the amount necessary to complete its project, up to the maximum grant award for that program. (aa) Project Planning: Details of the project including engineering, cost analysis, feasibility and/or market studies (and Structural analysis in the case of Housing Assistance)(bb) Project Eligibility: Proposed activities are verified for eligibility pursuant to 24 CFR, Part 570.482 and are cleared through the environmental review process pursuant to 24 CFR Part 58.(cc) Project Benefit: The proposed activities are verified to meet one of the national objectives pursuant to 24 CFR, Part 570.483 et seq., of either providing direct benefit to low and moderate income persons or removing slum and blighting influences within that community.(dd) Management Plan: Details of the structure and methods established by the community for program management.(ee) Regulations: Both State and Federal regulations will be reviewed for compliance.(c) Approval Process: The emphasis during Phase II will be to finalize project development. The goal is to develop a local-regional-State partnership that will facilitate project development that best meets the community's identified needs, supports multi-jurisdictional development and is in accordance with State goals. A community liaison will be assigned to your community to work closely with you to identify finalizing your project. Successful completion of Phase II criteria will allow the applicant to contract with DECD and become eligible to receive CDBG funds. Communities not having a signed contract within six months of receipt of a Phase II invitation will forfeit said invitation. The Director of OCD reserves the right to waive this requirement in light of extenuating circumstances. Project implementation shall begin upon execution of a contract. All activities must be cleared through an environmental review process prior to obligating CDBG funds. OCD staff will remain involved with the community through the end of the project.
19- 498 C.M.R. ch. 14, § 1