Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 4 - ADMINISTRATION › Part VII - Governor's Office › Chapter 19 - Rural Development › Section VII-1901 - Projects or Activities

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The
				Office of Rural Development (ORD) provides financial assistance to local units
				of government throughout the state mitigating the effects of natural and
				economic emergencies and funding units of local government projects essential
				to community well-being.
B.
				Municipalities with populations of less than 35,000 and parishes with
				populations of less than 100,000 inhabitants will be considered rural for the
				purposes of this program.
C. The
				ORD applies the following guidelines to any project or activity funded.
1. All projects or activities funded must be
				related to rural development revitalization of a rural area, as defined in
				R.S.
				3:313.
2. All funds shall be used to mitigate the
				rapid deterioration or assist the improvement of rural health, education,
				agri-business, transportation, public facilities, tourism, infrastructure, or
				other defined purposes essential to the socioeconomic well-being and quality of
				life of Louisiana's rural areas.
3.
				Projects or activities should further enhance community services and broaden
				rural employment opportunities whenever possible.
4. Projects or activities should further the
				provisions of the Rural Development Law,
				R.S.
				3:311-323.
5. At the start of each fiscal year, the
				executive director shall determine the equal funding level for all eligible
				parishes, which includes villages, towns and cities within each parish as well
				as the parish government, based on the total amount budgeted as aid to local
				governments for rural development grants. The ORD shall make awards to all
				parishes throughout the year up to that equal funding level.
6. In cases where the eligibility of the
				parish is limited (parishes over 100,000 in population with eligible
				unincorporated areas or eligible municipalities), the parish shall be funded to
				the maximum of those eligible levels so long as the amount does not exceed the
				amount to which rural parishes are eligible.
7. Parish governments may request funding for
				projects that serve a parish-wide area or an unincorporated area within the
				parish. In cases where a parish's application is for funding a project that is
				not parish-wide in scope and is designed to benefit an incorporated area within
				the parish, the governing body of the parish must submit a resolution of
				support for the project stating that determination.
8. Municipal governments (villages, towns,
				cities) may not exceed the total funding level as outlined in the ORD
				application guidelines for rural development grant funds for any fiscal year by
				having a parish government submit an application to fund a project within the
				corporate limits of a village, town or city, unless the project is a service
				that extends beyond the corporate limits and serves an adjoining portion of the
				parish or unless the project is in response to an emergency officially
				declared, as defined by state law (R.S.
				38:2211 et seq.).
9. Grants approved by the ORD are expected to
				be completed within one year from the date of signing of the letter of
				commitment by the executive director of ORD. Extensions will be limited to two
				on each grant and an extension must be approved, in writing, by the executive
				director of ORD.
10. Rural
				development funds are not intended for salary only projects or ongoing salaried
				positions.
11. All invoices
				submitted for reimbursement must be in original form and marked by vendor to
				identify the invoice as expenses related to the approved ORD grant using the
				grant number furnished by ORD at the time of issuing the approved letter of
				commitment.
12. There shall not be
				awarded to any Local Governmental Agency (LGA), municipal or parish, an
				additional grant if a previous grant to that LGA is still open past a period of
				24 months.
13. Changes or
				amendments to an application must be in writing and must be approved by the
				executive director, in writing. If the change in an application is so great
				that it goes from one category to another, the request must include a new
				abstract and a new budget and must be accompanied by a new resolution of
				support from the LGA's governing body.
14. Multi-parish regional projects are not
				intended to be funded by ORD funds, however, if each parish in a region agrees
				to fund a project that meets the criteria of the ORD grants, with the agreement
				of its local governing authority and the legislative delegation of that region,
				the total amount of the regional grant shall be prorated to each parish in that
				region. The prorated amount shall come out of the total allocated to each
				participating parish for that fiscal year.
15. A regional project may be funded,
				provided the legislature appropriates funding for a named regional project
				above the general appropriation for the ORD.
Regional
is
				defined as more than one municipality collaborating on a project parish-wide or
				more than one parish.