73C-23.0081. Nonrecurring CDBG Funding

(1) Funding.

When nonrecurring CDBG funds are awarded to the State of Florida by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department shall:

(a) Notify eligible units of local government of the availability of the funds, the eligible uses, and the manner in which they can be accessed.

(b) Evaluate local government applications for the use of the funds and make onsite visits to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.

(c) Enter into subgrant agreements with the local governments prior to the disbursement of funds.

(2) Nonrecurring CDBG Funding Awarded for Disaster Recovery. Subsections 73C-23.0051(1) and (3), F.A.C. (Selected portions of Grant Administration and Project Implementation) will apply to CDBG disaster recovery funding. All other portions of rule chapter 73C-23, F.A.C., are waived.

(3) Nonrecurring CDBG Funding Awarded for Other Uses. The rules applicable to annual awards of CDBG funds apply for all other nonrecurring CDBG Funds awarded for other uses.

(4) Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew Disaster Recovery Funding.

(a) The Department is the recipient of HUD funding as set forth in 81 Fed.Reg.224 (November 21, 2016); 82 Fed. Reg. 11 (January 18, 2017); and 82 Fed. Reg. 150 (August 7, 2017), which are hereby incorporated by reference and may be obtained by mailing the Department of Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Small Cities and Rural Communities, Small Cities CDBG Program, 107 East Madison Street MSC 400, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-6508.

(b) The Department will accept applications from units of local government in counties designated as eligible pursuant to Hurricane Hermine Disaster Declaration 4280 (effective December 2016) and Hurricane Matthew Disaster Declaration 4283 (effective December 2016), which can be obtained at and www.fema.gov/disaster/4283, and are hereby incorporated by reference.

(c) Florida DEO Hermine and Mathew CDBG-DR Application, Form DR-HM01, effective May 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference, may be accessed online at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-09409 or by contacting the Department’s CDBG Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program at [phone].

(d) The Department will score eligible applicants whose applications meet the national objectives set forth in Federal Register Volume 81, No. 224; 82, No. 11; 82, No. 150 based on the following Scoring Criteria:

1. Management Capacity: Subrecipient, program manager and/or developer presents depth of program or project, case and compliance management capacity to deliver services on-time and on-budget. Citizen Complaint Policy is in place. (35 points);

2. Readiness to Proceed and Viable Production Plan: Applicant must show evidence for how proposed program or project will mobilize and operate in a timely manner. (25 points);

3. Proposes Cost Reasonable Budget: Proposal budgets reflect cost reasonableness and affirmative efforts to leverage CDBG-DR funds with additional funding to address unmet needs.  Budget narrative reflects research, quotes and/or contracted pricing. (25 points); and

4. Storm Resilience: In addition to addressing unmet needs, program or project proposals need to show how they make investments that improve resilience to future storm-related damage. (15 points).

5. Overall Low-to-Moderate -Income Benefit – applications with higher LMI benefit receives a higher percentage ranking (50 points);

6. Overall Housing Eligible Activities – applications with programs and projects for housing related eligible activities receive higher percentage ranking (30 points); and

7. Vulnerable Populations – applications that address the following vulnerable populations will receive higher percentage rankings (20 points).

(I) The transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and permanent housing needs of individuals and families that are homeless and at-risk of homelessness;

(II) The prevention of low-income individuals and families with children (especially those with incomes below 30 percent of the area median) from becoming homeless; and

(III) the special needs of persons who are not homeless but require supportive housing (e.g., elderly, persons with disabilities, persons with alcohol or other drug addiction, persons with HIV/AIDS and their families, and public housing residents, as identified in 24 CFR 91.315(e).

(5) Service area.

“Service area” for purposes of this rule means the total geographical area to be served by an activity and encompasses all beneficiaries who are reasonably served or would be reasonably served by an activity.

(6) Interlocal Agreements.

Eligible Applicants proposing eligible activities in other eligible jurisdictions will enter into an Interlocal Agreement with the following provisions or submit documentation of an established relationship between eligible jurisdictions which includes the following provisions:

(a) Includes as parties all local governments whose jurisdictions are included in the project and/or service area(s);

(b) Authorizes the Applicant to undertake the activities in all jurisdictions included in the interlocal agreement; and,

(c) Affirms that all activities are consistent with each local government’s comprehensive plan and provides applicable excerpts of each local government’s comprehensive plan in the supporting documentation section of the application.

Administrative Costs.

The State’s Action Plan will limit the amount of funds that local governments may use for the administrative costs specified in 24 CFR 570.206 and as directed by the Federal Register Notice(s). This does not include staff and administrative costs directly related to carrying out activities eligible under 24 CFR 570 since those costs are eligible as part of those activities.

(7) Program Income.

Any program income earned as a result of activities funded under a CDBG disaster recovery subgrant must be reported to the Department, but may be retained for the life of the subgrant by the local government and used to continue the activities from which the funds were generated. Any program income generated or received after expiration or termination of the subgrant agreement must be returned to the Department.

(8) Other Funds.

Applicants and/or beneficiaries must provide documentation of funds received from other sources which were applied toward the costs of the project funded by CDBG disaster recovery funds.

(9) Beneficiaries of Public Improvements.

For activities where hookups or connections are required as a condition for beneficiary access to a CDBG funded infrastructure, no hookup or connection fees and no project construction costs shall be charged to very low-, low- or moderate-income beneficiaries.

Rulemaking Authority 290.046(2)(b)2., 290.48 FS. Law Implemented 290.043 FS. History–New 6-6-10, Formerly 9B-43.0081, Amended 4-21-15, 5-27-18.