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PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING THE PROPOSED FOURTH YEAR ACTION PLAN FOR THE FORTY-FOURTH YEAR NORMAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) APPLICATION WHICH INCLUDES THE 2018 HOME PROGRAM TOTALING $1,076,534 TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.
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BACKGROUND: On May 12, 2015 the Norman City Council approved the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan which is a comprehensive planning approach to identify and address the needs of low-to-moderate income residents of Norman. The Consolidated Plan provides a basis and strategy for the use of federal funds granted to the City of Norman by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership (HOME) programs. While the Consolidated Plan serves as a planning document meeting the federal government statutory requirements in 24CFR 91.200-91.230, the Annual Action Plan is the mechanism where the programs and projects are authorized and funded. This Annual Action Plan covers the period beginning July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 (2018 Federal Budget). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines the City of Norman as an entitlement community due to its population and demographics. As an entitlement community, the City of Norman receives an annual formula allocation of CDBG and HOME funding dependent upon the programmatic funding level included in the Federal Budget. Programs and activities described in this plan are intended to primarily benefit low and moderate-income residents of the City of Norman, neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income and moderate-income residents, and the city as a whole.
This plan is the product of public outreach, public hearings, and consultation with multiple agencies that serve the needs of low and moderate-income residents of Norman and agencies that serve the needs of special populations. The Fourth Year Action Plan for the 44th Year Community Development Block Grant Program ($766,816) and the 2018 HOME Program ($309,718) includes the proposed use of funds with references to the Five-Year Consolidated Plan Objectives and expected performance outcomes, and totals $1,076,534. This program year funding is based upon an estimate that anticipates level funding from the 17-18 Program Year. Any change in the final allocation amount will be modified by adjustments within these proposed projects.
A complete draft of this document was made available for public review beginning April 10, 2018.
DISCUSSION: The Fourth Year Action Plan is based upon research which utilized existing documents, and the recommendations of the Community Development Policy Committee as a result of a formal citizen participation process. This process included multiple interactions with interested parties and also opportunities for citizen participation from the general public. These interactions included neighborhood meetings for the five target neighborhoods where specific neighborhood needs were discussed as well as overall community development activities; multiple individual and focus group meetings where specific information regarding public services, public facilities, housing, homelessness, and economic development/anti-poverty were discussed; in September 2017 the annual Community Dialogue on housing and community development needs was held where issues that affect low and moderate income citizens were discussed in addition to the election of Policy Committee Representatives. The CDBG Policy Committee meetings included an extensive review of the previous Action Plan’s and the current Consolidated Plan’s Goals and Objectives and discussed the information that was assembled from the Community Dialogue, neighborhood meetings and focus groups. Utilizing the information that was compiled from this extensive citizen participation process the CDBG Policy Committee unanimously approved the Fourth Year Action Plan on April 4, 2018.
The CDBG and HOME projects proposed emphasize the provision of housing related activities. Included are funding for the housing rehabilitation programs and the development of affordable rental housing. The public services include the CDBG Bus Pass program and the continuation of the efforts to address homelessness in our community. All projects are listed in the attached 2018-2019 Fourth Year Action Plan and Budget Summary.
On March 22, 2018, Congress approved the Omnibus Spending Bill to fund the 2018-2019 Federal fiscal year. Within this budget, both the CDBG and HOME Programs received a slight increase in funding but until the Office of Management and Budget and HUD release the actual entitlement awards, grantees have been advised to utilize the 1718 award amounts for budget planning purposes. It is this estimate that the City of Norman Policy Committee utilized. For clarification, the FY2018 Federal Budget is from October 1, 2018 thru September 30, 2019 and includes the CDBG and HOME funding for the City of Norman program year that begins July 1, 2018 and ends June 30, 2019. By approving this proposed Action Plan, the City of Norman CDBG and HOME Programs can continue usual operations until the grant agreements are received.
A thirty-day public comment period on the proposed Action Plan ends on May 10, 2018. The submittal of this Fourth Year Action Plan based upon the estimated figures and is due to the Department of Housing and Urban Development by May 15, 2018 to allow for the statutory 45 day review period. Once the actual allocation amounts are received from HUD, the budgeted amounts for these approved activities will be adjusted to reflect the increase or decrease in funding. If a substantial change from the estimate would result in the cancellation of an approved project, the CDBG Policy Committee will meet and propose changes to the City Council for consideration before submittal to HUD for review. After adjustment in the budget amounts to balance with the actual allocation, the final Fourth Year (2018-2019) Action Plan will be forwarded to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for review.
Funds for CDBG and HOME projects have been included in the FYE 2019 City of Norman annual budget.
RECOMMENDATION: Approval of the Fourth Year Action Plan which includes the Forty-Fourth Year Community Development Block Grant Program and the 2018 HOME Program are recommended as proposed.