A. 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 persons;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 The DECD, through the Office of Community Development (OCD), designs and offers programs allowing municipalities to achieve their community development objectives. The purpose of the 1996 Final Statement is to provide units of local government with a description of the selection criteria for each program that OCD will use to allocate CDBG funds among communities. To assist communities in determining which program(s) best meet their needs, programs are grouped under three broad categories: Community Development, Economic Development and Planning.
1. Community Developmenta. Housing Assistance Grants: Provides financing to address acute housing needs of low and moderate income persons.b. Public Facilities/Infrastructure Grants: Provides financing for local infrastructure and public facilities.c. Public Service Grants: Provides financing to address human resource needs for operating expenses, equipment and program materials for public service programs.d. Urgent Need Grants: Provides financing to enable communities to address critical and imminent threats to health and safety.e. Reserved Grants: Provides financing for the second year of a Housing Assistance or Public Facilities/Infrastructure grant initially determined in the previous year.2. Economic Developmenta. Development Fund: Provides financial resources to local governments which in turn assist businesses to create/retain jobs for low and moderate income persons.b. Regional Assistance Fund: Provides financial resources to local governments or multi-jurisdictional organizations which use the assistance as leverage to obtain funds under the EDA Economic Adjustment Assistance Program (Title DC) and the EDA Public Works Program (Title 1), Rural Economic Community Development (RECD) and Small Business Administration (SBA) Programs and other federal funding sources.c. Micro-Loan Program: Provides financial resources to local governments to establish a loan program to assist businesses create/retain jobs for low and moderate income persons.d. Economic Development Infrastructure Grants: Provides funding to communities for public infrastructure installation or improvement necessary for a new or existing business to create/retain jobs for low and moderate income persons.e. Interim Finance Program: Utilizes 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 persons through short-term loans.f. Cargo Port Facility Set-Aside: Provides funding in support of the "three port strategy" for the State of Maine and to create/retain jobs for low to moderate income persons.3. Planning a. Phase II Planning Grants: Provides funding to assist communities to complete the second phase of their 1996 CDBG applications.b. General Purpose Planning Grants: Provides funding to communities, that have identified a local community or economic development problem, for developing a strategy to solve that problem.c. Quality Main Street Strategy Grants: Provides funding to communities for the development of strategies to revitalize their "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, 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, 1993), 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. EXCLUSION OF ENTITLEMENT COMMUNITIES The entitlement communities of Auburn, Bangor, Lewiston and Portland are not eligible to receive State CDBG program funds.
E. PROGRAM TIMEFRAME All application deadlines are listed below.
| Housing Assistance | December 22, 1995 |
| Economic Development Infrastructure | January 26, 1996 |
| April 26, 1996 |
| July 26, 1996 |
| Public Facilities/Infrastructure | January 26, 1996 |
| Micro-Loan | February 23, 1996 |
| Cargo Port Facility Set-Aside | March 1, 1996 |
| Quality Main Street Strategy and |
| General Purpose Planning | March 22, 1996 |
| Public Service | To be announced |
| Urgent Need | 1st come basis beginning |
| February 1, 1996 |
| Development Fund | Bi-monthly |
| Regional Assistance Fund | see Section 3. B. 4. (a) |
| Interim Finance Program | 1st come basis |
F. PROGRAM BUDGET The program budget indicates how CDBG Funds will be allocated for the 1996 grant year. The total budget is comprised of the federal allocation from HUD plus a state match. The amount of the 1996 federal allocation is projected to be $12,000,000. Based on the estimated allocation, the amount available for each program is indicated in the following budget.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAMBUDGET GRANT YEAR 1996
| Projected FY 1996 CDBG Program Budget1 | $12,290,047 |
| Administration | 630,047 |
| Technical Assistance Administration | 120,000 |
| Regional Council Technical Assistance | 120,000 |
| 1. Housing Assistance Grants | 2,100,000 |
| 2. Public Facilities/Infrastructure Grants |
| Category 1 | 2,400,000 |
| Category 2 | 750,000 |
| Category 3 | 150,000 |
| 3. Public Service Grants2 | 0 |
| 4. Urgent Need Grants | 200,000 |
| 5. Reserved Grants | 1,900,000 |
| 6. Development Fund3 | 0 |
| 7. Regional Assistance Fund | 900,000 |
| 8. Micro Loan Program | 400,000 |
| 9. Economic Development Infrastructure Program | 2,000,000 |
| 10. Interim Finance Program4 |
| 11. Cargo Port Facility Set-Aside | 400,000 |
| 12. Phase II Planning Grants | 40,000 |
| 13. General Purpose Planning Grants | 60,000 |
| 14. Quality Main Street Strategy Grants | 120,000 |
1 The total program budget is comprised of a projected federal allocation of $12,000,000 and the state match.
2 The PS Program will be funded only as outlined in Section 5.A.4. of the Final Statement
3 The DF Program will be funded only from program income projected to be $500,000.
4 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.
G. THRESHOLD CRITERIA AND REGULATIONS FOR THE 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 funds;(iv) establish a community development plan;(v) meet all required State and Federal public participation requirements;(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) review 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: Except for the Development Fund (DF) Program, units of local government and unorganized territories may not benefit from more than one grant per program per grant year.(b) Probation on Subsequent Year Award: Except for the Development Fund (DF) Program units of general local government and unorganized territories that benefited from a 1994 two year award, (whether a single community or as part of a multi-jurisdictional program), may not apply again in that specific program until the 1997 program. Units of local government and unorganized territories that benefited from a 1995 single year award may not apply again in that specific program until the 1997 program. Units of local government and unorganized territories that received a 1995 two year award may not apply again in that specific program until the 1998 program. Prohibition against subsequent year awards is program specific.(c) Computation of Distress Scores for Multi-jurisdictional Applications: Distress scores for multi-jurisdictional applications will be computed on a weighted average basis. (population 1)(distress 1)+(population 2)(distress 2)+... /population I + population 2 +... = weighted average distress score.(d) Phase II Planning Grants: Pursuant to Section 4.A. of this Final Statement, Phase 11 participants will be eligible for planning grant funds on an as needed basis to assist with payment of project development costs. Extent of assistance shall be determined by OCD staff.(e) Grant Termination: The OCD may terminate a community's grant if progress on the project is not apparent within 12 months from the date of signing a contract with DECD.(f) Project Eligibility: 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 the list of eligible activities under the "special threshold criteria and certifications" section for the respective program being applied for and be eligible under Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. In the event an application contains an activity not eligible as provided above, the entire application will be judged not to meet project eligibility, and will be removed from further consideration. In all cases, the applicant will be notified in writing of the determination made by the OCD.(g) Project Benefit: Applications will be reviewed to verify that the proposed activities meet one of the CDBG Program national objectives pursuant to Section 104(b) 3 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. In the event an activity does not meet a national objective as provided above, the entire application will be judged not to have met project benefit and will be removed from further consideration. In all cases, the applicant will be notified in writing of the determination made by the OCD.3. The following Threshold Criteria APPLY ONLY TO THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS: * Housing Assistance (HA) * Public Service Grant (PSG)
* Economic Development Infrastracture (EDI) * Micro Loan (ML)
* Public Facilities Infrastructure (PFIG) * Quality Main Street (QMS)
* General Purpose Planning Grant (GPPG)
(a) Eligible Applicants: AR units of general local government in Maine, including plantations, are eligible to apply for and receive CDBG funds. County governments may apply on 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-jurisdictionaI 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.(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. Scores will be determined by: (all scores - lowest score) / (all scorers - 1). Starting at the top of the scoring list, applicants will be invited to proceed to Phase II. While an invitation into Phase II is not a guarantee of funding, if successful, communities will receive the amount necessary to complete their project, up to the maximum grant award for that program until the funding available in that program is exhausted. Phase II project development includes: (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) Management Plan: Details of the structure and methods established by the community for program management.(cc) Regulations: Phase 11 applications will be reviewed for compliance with State and Federal regulations.(dd) Project Eligibility: Verification that proposed activities are eligible pursuant to Section 1. G. (2) (f) of the Program Statement.(ee) Project Benefit: Verification that proposed activities meet one of the CDBG Program national objectives pursuant to Section 1. G. (2) (g) of the Program Statement.(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, and is in accordance with State goals. A community representative will be assigned to work closely with each community to finalize their 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 completed their Phase II application within six months of receiving a Phase II invitation Will forfeit their grant award. The Director of OCD may 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 throughout project implementation.
19- 498 C.M.R. ch. 15, § 1