MOTION TO ADOPT Resolution No. 2014-293 of the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, approving Broward County's FY 2014-2015 Annual Action Plan for October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015, for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fortieth (40th) Year Grant ("programs"); approving estimated funding in various amounts from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, and the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program; authorizing the County Administrator to transmit the Annual Action Plan to HUD, to take all necessary administrative actions for implementation of the programs, to modify the allocation amounts based on changes in the County's final grant allocation from HUD, and to execute the agreements and amendments thereto for the respective programs; and providing for severability and an effective date.
ACTION: (T-3:03 PM) Approved.
VOTE: 9-0.
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THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT AND THE HOUSING FINANCE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
The 2014-2015 Annual Action Plan covers the period from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015 and includes proposed activities and funding allocations for the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG) totaling $5,561,663. The public notice was published on April 13, 2014.
The CDBG HUD award is in the amount of $2,369,587. The addition of $51,338 reallocated from FY 2013-2014, and $100,000 in Program Income increases the CDBG allocation to $2,520,925 in the Annual Action Plan. The HOME funding allocation is $2,614,944, and HOME program income derived from the repayment of HOME loans totaling $230,000 increases the HOME allocation to $2,844,944. The ESG funding allocation totals $195,794. Public comment and participation at this hearing are encouraged by the adopted Citizen Participation Plan approved by the Board of County Commissioners on May 25, 2010 (Item No. 6) and amended on May 22, 2012 (Item No. 1).
The Request for Proposals (RFP) cycle for CDBG, HOME, and ESG funds was initiated through an advertisement published in the Sun Sentinel on October 1, 2013. The public was advised that applications could be obtained from the Housing Finance and Community Development Division and that a Proposal Information Workshop and Public Hearing would be held on October 2, 2013. Technical assistance was available throughout the application cycle from October 1, 2013 through December 2, 2013. The cities were advised regarding their allocations of CDBG and HOME funds; and those cities, in turn, selected projects to be funded for the fiscal year. The public was also advised that another opportunity to comment would occur when the FY 2014-2015 Annual Action Plan was considered by the Board of County Commissioners.
The Housing Finance and Community Development Division has not yet been advised by HUD regarding what the final HOME funding allocations by percentage for the HOME Consortium Cities for FY 2014-2015. The cities submitted their FY 2014-2015 proposals prior to HUD publishing exact HOME percentage funding levels. County staff, therefore, had to recommend city allocations based on last year’s funding levels.
The organizations recommended for funding from CDBG, HOME and ESG participated in the RFP process. Their applications were evaluated by committees consisting of in-house staff and municipal staff who are practitioners in the planning, housing, and community development field.
CDBG - Public Service Proposals
CDBG funding for public service projects cannot exceed fifteen percent of the County’s total CDBG allocation, therefore no new non-profit public service projects could be recommended for funding because on-going Urban County Participating City and Broward County Housing Authority (BCHA) public service activities used up the available cap amount of $323,409. Broward County is obligated to fund a BCHA public service activity under HUD Consolidated Plan Regulations under 24 CFR Part 91 (IV) (H).
ESG - Allocation Process
Funding recommendations under ESG are done according to HUD eligibility category requirements. ESG funding recommendations are also based on how closely applications matched Homeless Initiatives Advisory Committee (HIAC) priorities as well. There were six ESG applications submitted for $183,419 in available funds. Rapid Re-housing projects were identified as the HIAC highest priority. Broward County’s Family Success Administration Division is recommended for the requested $64,000 in the Rapid Re-housing category because they scored the highest and were the only applicant to submit a proposal in that category.
Once the highest HIAC priority was addressed, the remaing $119,419 of available ESG funds were free to be used for Emergency Shelter and Street Outreach. In this category, Covenant House Florida, Inc. scored the highest and is recommended for $61,050. The remaining applicants in this category were recommended for split funding. Women in Distress of Broward County, Inc., is recommended for partial funding totaling $30,000 because they scored the second highest and Henderson Mental Health is recommended for the balance of $28,369.
HOME
Each year it is a priority that a portion of the HOME funds are dedicated to providing the required “local match” for projects being submitted to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) for the 9% tax credit multi-family allocation. These projects are extremely important to Broward County and contribute to the main source of new affordable rental multifamily development. A total of $200,000 was available for FHFC tax credit match projects. Only two of the three projects that submitted applications for tax credit match projects were recommended for funding in the amount of $100,000 each because they have already been awarded 9% Tax Credits by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC). The third project was not recommended for funding by the FHFC. Another project requested funds for gap financing but is not recommended for the $200,000 requested because gap financing was not advertised in the initial Public Notice as a priority. The remaining balance in available HOME funding, $306,750 is recommended for purchase assistance.
Summary
The projects in the Annual Action Plan propose construction of 189 new affordable housing units; rehabilitation of 80 single family homes; provision of purchase assistance to 37 home buyers; provision of public services such as housing counseling, elderly transportation, youth programs and computer training to 1,351 low/moderate income clients; and, construction of various infrastructure improvements such as sidewalks and drainage in low/moderate income neighborhoods.
Pursuant to the attached Resolution, the County Administrator is authorized to execute agreements for the respective programs in forms approved by the Office of the County Attorney, which shall include all standard agreement provisions, and incorporate changes recommended by the County's Risk Manager or County Auditor, so long as the changes are in the best interest of the County. In addition, the County Administrator is authorized to increase or decrease the estimated funding amounts and/or project service deliverables for the Programs provided for herein, including project amounts for subrecipients of funding set forth in Exhibit 1, due to changes in the County’s final grant allocation from HUD. |