HomeMy WebLinkAboutMontana Department of Commerce M NTANAr
coM.u.~ o~w-o...m o.~s,o. !1 [~I FEB 9 2004
CITY OF LAUREL
DATE: February 4, 2004
TO: Local Government Officials and Others Interested in tha Montana Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program
FROM: Gus Byrom, CDBG Program Manager for Housing and Public Facilities~'p~
SUBJECT: t. Announcement of Planning Grants Guidelines for the 2004
CDBG Program - Housing & Public Facilities
2. CDBG Application Guidelines for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2005
Funds for Public Facilities & Housing Projects
3. Dates and Locations for 2004 CDBG Public Facilities
Application Workshops
4. Montana Five-Year Consolidated Plan Meeting
t. 2004 CDBG Plannin~l Grants Related to HousinQ, Public Facilities and Community
Planning
The Montana CDBG Program for Housing and pUblic Facilities is inviting applications for grants
to assist local governments in preparing plans, studies, analyses, or reseamh related to
community development. The grants can be used for a variety of planning activities, including
the initial planning necessary to develop a CDBG project, or to prepare or update a local growth
policy, a housing plan, preliminary engineering report (PER), preliminary architectural report
(PAR), capital improvement plan, or similar planning efforts needed to help a community
address cdtical needs. Local aovemments with a current CDBG Dlannin(~ ~rant are ineli(~ible to
aoolv for an additional olannina orant until their current olannin(~ ~rant is completed and closed
out. For questions concerning eligibility, please contact the program. A listing of funded
planning grants is available at the website listed below.
Application Deadline and Available Funds:
The application deadline for 2004 Planning Grants (Housing & Public Facilities) will be Frid~ay,
April 23, 2004. The CDBG program has allocated $200,000 for the Planning Grants with a
maximum ceiling of $20,000 per grant.
The grant guidelines and application form are available on the Montana Department of
Commerce (MDOC) website at http:l/www, commerce.state.mt.uslCDDICDD Home.html or by
e-mailing Joanne Gilbert at i(~ilbert~state.mt.us, or by telephone (406) 841-2791.
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2. CDBG Application Guidelines for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2005 Funds for Public
Facilities & Housin.~ Proiects
^s in the past, CDBG is publishing separate sets of ^pplication Guidelines for Public Facilities
and Housing projects for FFY 2005 funds. The CDBG Public Facilities Application Guidelines
will be available in late February.
A. Application Cycle for FFY 2005 Funds - Public Facilities and Housinc/Proiects.
For several years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been
placing increasing pressure on al~ of the states and cities that administer the CDBG Program to
expedite the expenditure of their CDBG funds. MDOC typically receives notification of the
amount of Montana's CDBG allocation for each federal fiscal year (FFY) in April. In previous
years, applications for CDBG Public Facilities grants were due in May and the grant awards for
that year's funds were announced in August or September. This resulted in at least a five-month
delay between when MDOC received its fiscal year allocation and when public facility funds
were awarded. Applications for CDBG Housing grants were due in the fall and the grant awards
~we_re~ u_sual~/a~n~_nounced in mid-winter. The lag time between receipt of the state's CDBG
allocation and housing grant awards was seven to eight months or longer.
Overall, Montana has had a good track record in the expenditure of CDBG funds, ranking
in the top one-quarter of states in its rate of spending. However, in response to HUD's
concerns, the Montana DeparLment of Commerce changed the funding cycle beginning
with the FFY 2003 and 2004 CDBG programs. To accelerate the funding cycle, the
Department conducted grant competitions for FFY 2002, 2003 and 2004 funding allocations
during the last 24 months. This acceleration of the <;rant competitions was a one-time only
event.
The result of this change is that MDOC has now established an annual grant application cycle
that provides for the ranking of both Housing and Public Facility applications in the calendar
year prior to the actual receipt of the FFY CDBG allocation that will fund those projects. Local
governments applying for CDBG Public Facility and Housing projects during 2004 will be funded
with FFY 2005 funds, if successful. This change allows MDOC to award grants to communities
immediately upon notification of that year's CDBG allocation and will likely result in the faster
expenditure of that fiscal year's CDBG funds. The award of Planning Grants is not affected by
the acceleration of the grant cycle for Public Facilities and Housing projects. CDBG Planning
Grants will continue to be awarded in the same federal fiscal year in which funds are received.
B. Applic~ation Deadlines
The application deadlines for the 2004 grant competitions are described below. The schedule
on the next page shows how the CDBG program will operate with Public Facilities and Housing
competitions taking place in the spring and fall of 2004 before Montana's CDBG allocation for
FFY 2005 funds is announced by HUD in April, 2005. Planning grants will continue to be
awarded in the same year in which the CDBG funds are received.
· Planning Grant applications for FFY 2004 funds will be due April 23, 2004.
· Public Facilities applications for FFY 2005 funds will be due May 28, 2004.
· Housing applications for FFY 2005 funds will be due November 19, 2004.
For CDBG applications that will also re(Tuire Treasure State Endowment (TSEP) fundinq (which
wi//have to be approved by the 2005 Leqislature) ap/~licants should a/g/~lv to both/~roqrams in
May 2004. CDBG water and wastewater applications that are a/so seekinq TSEP c/rants wi//be
reviewed concurrently with TSEP applications dufinq the summer of 2004.
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CDBG 2004 Calendar CDBG 2005 Calendar
Economic Development - Open Cycle Economic Development - Open Cycle
HUD announces Montana's HUD announces Montana's
FFY 2004 CDBG Allocation April, 2004 FFY 2005 CDBG Allocation Apdl, 2005
Plannin(I Grant Coml3efition Announcement of FFY 2005 April 2005
for FFY 2004 Grants Public Facilities and Housing
Grant Awards
Applications Due April 23, 2004
Plannin¢l Grant Coml3etifion
Announcement of June, 2004 for FFY 2005 Grants
Grant Awards
Applications Due Apdl, 2005
~ i' Announcement of June, 2005
~ Grant Awards
Housin~l Grant Coml=efition : ,~::; :: :
for FFY 2005 Grants
Applications Due November 19, 2004
Housin(~ Grant Coml3etition
Announcement of February, 2005 for FFY 2006 Grants
Ranking Results
Applications Due November, 2005
**Applications must be delivered or postmarked on or before the deadline date.
3. Dates and Locations for Public Facilities and Housincl Al~l~lication Workshol~s
In cooperation with the Water, Wastewater, and Solid Waste Action Coordinating Team
(VV2ASACT), the CDBG program will be co-hosting four workshops this Spring to familiarize
local governments with federal and state Iow interest loan and grant programs that are available
to assist local governments and water and sewer districts in financing water, sewer, and solid
waste improvement projects, as well as other eligible CDBG activities (senior centers, Head
Start centers, affordable housing, etc.)*
Local government officials and all those interested in learning how to apply for funds to finance
local infrastructure improvements are encouraged to attend one of these sessions. The second
day of each workshop (with the exception of Missoula, where the CDBG workshop is the
tst day) will focus solely on CDBG application requirements for public facility and
housing projects.
The dates and locations are as follows:
...... MondayL . _*March 8 -~DBG - 1L00 to 5:00 -_Holida~y/nn ParksideLMissop. la
Tuesday: March 9 - W2ASACT - 8:30 to 5:00
Monday: March 16 -W2ASACT - Red Lion Colonial Hotsl- Helena
Wednesday: *March 17- CDBG -8:30 to Noon
Tuesday: March 30 - W2ASACT - 8:30 to 5:00 - Cottonwood Inn - Glasgow
Consolidated Plan Meeting - 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday: *March 31 - CDBG - 8:30 to Noon
Thursday: April 1 - W2ASACT - 8:30 to 5:00 - Sheraton Hotel - Billings
Friday: *April 2 - CDBG - 8:30 to Noon
* The CDBG application guidelines for FFY 2005 funds for housing projects will also be
available at this time, in addition to the Public Facilities application guidelines.
Combined MDOC HOME - CDBG application workshops focusing solely on Housing are
tentatively planned for next September.
4. Montana Five-Year Consolidated Plan Meetin~l
Following the W2ASACT workshop in Glasgow, you are encouraged to attend a community
meeting on the affordable housing, infrastructure, economic development, and other community
~eveiopmen~ ~eed~ ~)YlVlorffan~'s ~ow a~d ~de~ate i~c<~me ~rnili~, ~0 be incorporated in~
document entitled Montana's Five-Year Consolidated Plan. Citizen participation is critical to our
statewide planning process and we provide several opportunities for citizen input during the
development of the Consolidated Plan. So, please join us for coffee and dessert on Tuesday,
March 30, 2004, from 7:00 Dm to 8:30 Dm at Glasgow's Cottonwood Inn to assist the Montana
Department of Commerce develop the state's plan.
The Consolidated Plan, developed with information from local governments, public'agencies,
nonprofit organizations, and interested citizens throughout the State, especially Iow and
moderate income citizens, is used to identify needs and allocate resources to Montana
communities and residents. Additionally, the Plan is intended to be a resource for use by local
communities to assist them in determining their own highest needs for affordable housing,
economic development and public facilities. The Consolidated Plan does NOT specify what
individual communities need.
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The Consolidated Plan also serves as the annual application to the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the
Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs, administered by the Montana Department of
Commerce, and the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Program, administered by the Montana
Department of Public Health & Human Services. These grant programs receive approximately
$13 million per year that is distributed to Montana's communities.
The Montana Consolidated Plan covers the entire state, excluding the cities of Billings, Great
Falls, and Missoula which are separate entitlement areas receiving their own allocations from
HUD.
The last Five-Year Consolidated Plan was prepared and submitted to HUD in February 2000 for
the period 4/1/2000 through 3/31/2005. The purpose of the Glasgow community meeting is to
seek input for the next five-year period of 4/1/2005 through 3/31/2010. The five-year plan
describes housing markets and conditions, includes data on the economy, homelessness and
population characteristics, ider3tifies community development needs, including public facility and
economic development needs, provides an inventory of housing services and programs,
describes broad priorities and actions for state housing and community development, and sets
forth a one-year action (or annual) plan. The Annual Action Plan outlines the expected
resources available, types of activities to be funded, the geographic distribution of funds and
planned actions for the upcoming plan year.
You can learn more about Montana's Consolidated Plan and view existing Plan documents,
including the last Five-Year Consolidated Plan and the current's year's Annual Action Plan, by
going to: http://commerce.state.mt.us/Housincl/HOus ConsPlanappls.html
General questions about the Montana Consolidated Plan may be directed to:
Leslie Edgcomb, Consolidated Plan Coordinator
Montana Department of Commerce, Housing Division
PO Box 200545 ~
Helena, MT 59620-0545
(406) 841-2820 --or-- ledqcomb~.state.mt.us
The Montana Department of Commerce will make reasonable modifications for persons with
disabilities who wish to participate in the Glasgow public meeting. If you require an assistive
device or person or another accommodation, contact Casey Pallister, HOME Program
Assistant, by not later than 4:00 p;m., Monday, March 22, 2004, to advise us of the nature of the
accommodation that you need. Please contact the Montana Department of Commerce, Attn:
CaseyPallister, Housing Division, PO Box 200545, Helena, MT 59620-0545; telephone: (406)
841-2820; TDD: (406) 841-2702; e-mail address; cpallister@state.mt.us; FAX: (406) 841-2821.
Alternative accessible formats of this document will be provided upon request. If you
need this document in an alternative format, such as large print, Braille, audio tape, or
computer diskette, please contact the Montana Department of Commerce Community
Development Division at (406) 841-2791 TDD (406) 841-2702, or the Relay Services
number, 711.
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