Presenter/Contact
Presenter
Jennifer Gates, Grants Coordinator
Contact Info
(830) 221-4383 - JGates@nbtexas.org
Subject Header
SUBJECT:
Title
Public hearing and possible direction to staff regarding the submission of an amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment to incorporate an additional allocation of $423,819 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds, and integrate updates for the current CDBG Program Year 2020 Annual Action Plan.
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BACKGROUND / RATIONALE:
The City of New Braunfels has been fortunate to receive an additional allocation of funds to the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that is to be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19). This allocation was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Public Law 116-136, which was signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020, to respond to the growing effects of this historic public health crisis. In April, the CARES Act provided $243,102 in Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds to the City and in September, the City received notification of an additional $423,819 in CDBG-CV funding.
CDBG-CV funds may be used for a wide range of activities that must be associated with COVID-19, and all eligible activities must meet one of the three National Objectives: 1) Benefit low to moderate-income persons, 2) Aid in the prevention of slums and blight, or 3) Meet other urgent community needs such as disaster relief. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to, emergency rent/utility assistance, food distribution, provision of testing, diagnosis, or other services at a fixed or mobile location, and provision of short-term working capital assistance to small businesses to enable retention of jobs held by low- and moderate-income persons. CDBG-CV grant funding must only be used to support residents affected by COVID-19.
On April 28, the City released a widely publicized Request for Applications (RFA) to receive responses from nonprofit agencies and other eligible entities for participation in the CDBG-CV program. Applications were available for 3 categories: Public Services, Public Facilities, and Assistance to Businesses. The City subsequently received applications from 5 local non-profit agencies for a variety of eligible activities within the Public Services category for a total of $312,025. Unlike our annual CDBG funding, there are no percentage caps for the allocation of CDBG-CV funds; therefore, funding is equally available to all categories, including Public Services.
All applications were reviewed by an internal committee consisting of several City staff members and the City’s CDBG consultant and, in accordance with available HUD guidelines, the committee recommended, and the City Council approved, the reallocation of previously unallocated CDBG Program Year 2019 (PY19) funding to supplement the CDBG-CV program, thereby allowing the City to award the full amounts requested by the applicants. The currently awarded CDBG-CV subrecipients are as follows:
|
TOTAL CDBG-CV FUNDING AVAILABLE: $ 243,102 ALLOCATED + $68,923 PY19 FUNDS |
|
Name of Organization |
Project/Program |
Awarded |
|
CASA of Central Texas, Inc. |
court advocacy services |
$ 56,500 |
|
Comal County Habitat for Humanity |
housing/utility assistance |
$ 136,425 |
|
Crisis Center of Comal County |
food/shelter assistance |
$ 10,000 |
|
Family Life Center |
housing/utility assistance |
$ 10,000 |
|
San Antonio Food Bank |
emergency food distribution |
$ 100,000 |
|
TOTAL AWARDED AMOUNT |
$ 312,025 |
To utilize the September CDBG-CV funding allocation of $423,819, the City is required by HUD to again submit an amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment to the PY19 Annual Action Plan as it will increase the amount of available funding rather providing a new funding source. The initial CARES Act Substantial Amendment that was approved by HUD in May incorporated the City’s initial allocation of CDBG-CV funding and described the aforementioned eligible activities. This CARES Act Substantial Amendment will add the additional $423,819 to the existing CDBG-CV funding ($312,025) for a total of $735,844 provided to support the community in response to the effects of COVID-19. An additional CARES Act Substantial Amendment will be required again upon the City’s determination for the usage of the additional funding amount of $423,819 e.g. a competitive application process similar to that described above.
Additionally, on November 7, 2020, HUD notified the City of a calculation error by the Federal government for the CDBG Program Year 2020 (PY20) grant. The PY20 allocation is now $413,188, which is an overall reduction of $63. As such, the amounts allotted to the administration of the CDBG program and for the Public Services category will be adjusted accordingly; and as allowable by HUD, the City will use a portion of previously unallocated PY19 funding to maintain the PY20 contract award amounts for programs/projects within the Housing category.
Also, since the approval of the adopted PY20 Annual Action Plan, the project for Holistic Empowerment Resources has unfortunately been cancelled by the awarded agency due to unforeseen circumstances and the grant award of $5,200 was reallocated to CASA of Central Texas, Inc (CASA). Due to the calculation error by HUD, the reallocated amount for CASA is now $5,190.55.
Therefore, the amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment will allow the City to integrate the following updates to PY20 Annual Action Plan:
|
Name of Organization |
Currently Approved Amount |
Revised Award Amount |
|
Administration of CDBG Program |
$ 82,650.20 |
$ 82,637.60 |
|
CASA of Central Texas, Inc. |
$ 10,000.00 |
$ 15,190.55 |
|
Holistic Empowerment Resources |
$ 5,200.00 |
$ 0 |
HUD typically requires a 30-day comment period for the Substantial Amendment process; however, HUD has reduced the public comment period for CARES Act Substantial Amendments to 5 days in order to expedite the availability of funding to communities. The comment period for the amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment is November 20 to November 24. Additionally, there is one public hearing that will occur on November 23 during the City Council meeting, prior to the submission of this amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment. This allows for citizens to comment on the information proposed in the amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment to the approved CDBG Program Year 2019 and 2020 Annual Action Plans. A full draft of the amendment is available for review at the City Secretary’s Office at the New Braunfels’ City Hall, at the New Braunfels Central Public Library, and on the City’s CDBG-CV website, nbtexas.org/CDBG-CV, during this timeframe. It is anticipated that the finalized CARES Act Substantial Amendment will be presented to City Council for approval on December 14, 2020 and delivered to HUD for their review/approval no later than December 15, 2020. Additional information regarding another CARES Act Substantial Amendment will be provided as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES A NEED/ISSUE IN A CITY PLAN OR COUNCIL PRIORITY:
|
X |
Yes |
Strategic Priorities |
Protect the integrity of our neighborhoods. |
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact to the City as this is an allocation of federal funding.
Recommendation
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
This is a public hearing allowing citizens to comment on the submission of an amended CARES Act Substantial Amendment that will incorporate an additional allocation of $423,819 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds, and integrate updates for the current CDBG Program Year 2020 Annual Action Plan.
Additionally, Staff requests direction from City Council regarding a competitive application process for the distribution of available CDBG-CV funding to eligible entities.