Code of Maine Rules › 19 - DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT › 498 - OFFICE OF TOURISM AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT › Chapter 41 - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM 2013 PROGRAM STATEMENT › Section 498-41-2 - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
HOUSING ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM
The Housing Assistance Grant (HA) Program provides funding to
				  address housing problems of low-and moderate-income persons. Housing Assistance
				  Program (HA) funds will be distributed through an annual grant application
				  selection process.
1.
Eligibility Requirements for Housing Assistance Applications:
Communities may not submit a HA application if they have received or
				benefited from two HA awards within the five (5) year period prior to the CDBG
				program year for which applications are being accepted. Only applicants with
				populations that exceed 3,000 are eligible to apply. Multi-jurisdictional
				applications with more than 3 communities will not be accepted.
2.
Eligible Activities:
Eligible HA activities are rehabilitation of occupied or vacant
				single-family or multi-family housing units, same site replacement housing,
				relocation assistance, acquisition, alternative housing, energy conservation,
				code enforcement, conversion of non-residential structures, demolition, down
				payment assistance, first time homebuyer's programs, lead based paint removal,
				new housing construction as allowed by HUD regulations, provision of potable
				water or sewer, removal of architectural barriers and eligible planning
				activities necessary to complete the Project Development Phase.
3.
Exclusions:
See Section
				1H(6) (7).
4.
Matching
				Funds:
Applicants for housing activities must provide a match (cash or
				in-kind) of at least
10 % of the total HA grant award;
except for eligible new housing construction activities which must provide a
				cash match of at least
20% of the total HA grant
				award
.
5.
Maximum HA Grant Amount:
$500,000
6.
Maximum Housing Assistance Program
				Per-Unit Costs:
The amount of rehabilitation grants or loans available
				to participants in the HA Program will be no more than $30,000 per unit.
				Additional funds, up to a maximum of $10,000 may be available in the following
				cases: replacement housing, Life Safety Code violations, foundation work,
				inadequate sewage disposal, lack of potable water, removal of lead-based paint,
				asbestos, radon, or other hazardous material, and accessibility modifications.
				Except for acquisition and/or relocation, all other eligible activities under
				the HA Program are limited to a maximum of $40,000 per unit assisted/created.
				Maximum per-unit costs for any housing activity may only be waived by written
				approval from the Office of Community Development.
Public infrastructure
				is not an eligible HA expense.
7.
Maximum Administrative
				Costs:
The HA Program allows expenditures for general and/or
				rehabilitation administration. The total general and rehabilitation
				administration expenditures may not exceed 15% of the grant amount.
Please refer to OCD Policy Statement #2 for more information regarding
				CDBG administrative costs.
8.
Section 8 H ousing Quality
				Standards:
All units assisted or created with HA funds must, if
				possible, meet HUD Section 8M inimum Housing Quality Standards. This does not
				apply to projects undertaken to correct specific emergency health and safety
				issues only, i.e. wells, septic, heating units, removal of hazardous materials,
				energy conservation etc.
9.
Administrative Capabilities for Housing Rehabilitation Applicants:
Applicants for HA assistance must demonstrate at the time of submitting
				the Letter of Intent that they have the capacity to administer the program
				either through municipal staff that is a qualified CDBG Rehabilitation
				Technician; or have completed a procurement process under the guidelines of the
				CDBG program ( 24 CFR Part 85 ) to hire a qualified CDBG Rehabilitation
				Technician subject to award of a HA contract.
10.
Selection Process:
The
				selection process for all HA applications will consist of two stages:
(a) Stage 1:
Letter of
				  Intent
:
All communities wishing to submit a HA
				  application must submit a Letter of Intent to OCD on or before March 15, 2013
				  according to the requirements set forth in the 2013 Housing Assistance
				  Application Package.
(b)
				Stage 2:
Application
:
The maximum length of an application is
four pages (not counting required
				  attachments)
. The application deadline for the HA Program is 4:00PM on
				  May 3, 2013. Members of the Review Team will assign a Review Point Total for
				  each application reviewed. Review Point Totals will consist of the sum of the
				  three scoring areas below and be determined by the total of each sub-scoring
				  area. A maximum of 100 points is obtainable.
Impact
(40 points):
A description of the specific housing problems to be
					 addressed with HA funds - 15 points
												 How the problems were identified - 10
					 points
												 How these issues affect LMI persons in the community
					 or region - 15 points
Development Strategy
(40
				  points):
A description of the plan proposed to implement the
					 housing project - 15 points
												 How emphasis will be placed on a community based
					 approach using collaborative efforts 10 points
												 Summary of the activities and use of HA funds -15
					 points
Citizen Participation
(20
				  points):
How overall citizen participation process directly
					 relates to identification of solution strategies and application development -
					 4 points
												 Effective use of any media (newspapers, radio, TV,
					 etc) to further public awareness and participation - 4 points
												 Relevance of listed meeting/hearing
					 activities/comments (not counting required public hearing) on application and
					 project development - 4 points
												 Involvement of potential LMI project beneficiaries in
					 development of the application and project and how the required public hearing
					 relates to the application development and citizen participation process - 4
					 points
												 How other local resources (cash and in-kind) are
					 directly related to the project and the establishment of a cash value
					 equivalent for all in-kind commitments - 4 points
11.
Final Application Score
-
				Each application will receive a Final Application Score consisting of the
				average of the scores assigned by members of the Review Team. Starting at the
				top of the scoring list, applicants will be invited to proceed to the Project
				Development Phase as funds allow.