PART 6. OFFICE OF RURAL COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 255. TEXAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
SUBCHAPTER A. ALLOCATION OF PROGRAM FUNDS
10 TAC §§255.1, 255.2, 255.4, 255.9, 255.11, 255.16
The Office of Rural Community Affairs (Office) proposes amendments to §§255.1, 255.2, 255.4, 255.9, 255.11 and 255.16 for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) non-entitlement area funds.
The amendments are being proposed to specify criteria contained within the 2009 Action Plan.
Charles S. (Charlie) Stone, Executive Director of the Office, has determined that for the first five-year period the sections are in effect there will be no fiscal implications for state or local government as a result of enforcing or administering the sections as proposed.
Mr. Stone has also determined that for each year of the first five-year period the sections are in effect the public benefit as a result of enforcing the sections will be the equitable allocation of CDBG non-entitlement are funds to eligible units of general local government in Texas. There will be no cost to small business or individuals.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Mark Wyatt, Director of Community Development, Office of Rural Community Affairs, P.O. Box 12877, Austin, Texas 78711, telephone: (512) 936-6701. Comments will be accepted for 30 days following the date of publication of this proposal in the Texas Register.
The amendments are proposed under §487.052 of the Government Code, which provides the executive committee with the authority to adopt rules concerning the implementation of the Office's responsibilities.
No other code, article, or statute is affected by the proposed sections.
§255.1.General Provisions.
(a) - (f) (No change.)
(g) Appeals. An applicant for funding under the TxCDBG may appeal the disposition of its application in accordance with this subsection.
(1) - (3) (No change.)
(4) An applicant for a grant, loan, or award under a community development block grant program may appeal a decision of the state review committee by filing a compliant with the Board. The Board will hold a hearing on a complaint filed with the Board and render a decision.
(5) [(4)] Appeals not submitted
in accordance with this subsection are dismissed and may not be refiled.
(h) Threshold requirements. An applicant must satisfy each of the following requirements in order to be eligible to apply for or to receive funding under the TxCDBG:
(1) - (5) (No change.)
(6) Submit any past due audit to the Office.
(A) A community with one year's delinquent audit may
be eligible to submit an application for funding by the established
application deadline, but may not receive a contract award if the
audit continues to be delinquent on the date the state review committee
meets to approve [review] funding recommendations
for applications from fund categories scheduled for state review committee
review. For applications from fund categories that are not reviewed
by the state review committee, a community with one year's delinquent
audit may be eligible to submit an application for funding by the
established application deadline, but may not receive a contract award
if the audit continues to be delinquent on the date that the
state review committee [the executive director] approves
funding recommendations. [, or in the case of funding
recommendations over $300,000, on the date that the Executive Committee
reviews the funding recommendations.] Applications for the colonia
self-help center fund and the disaster relief/urgent need fund are
exempt from this threshold.
(B) A community with two years of delinquent audits
may not apply for additional funding and may not receive a funding
recommendation. This applies to all funding categories under the Texas
Community Development Program. The colonia self-help centers fund
may be exempt from this threshold, since funds for the self-help centers
fund is included in the program's state budget appropriation. Failure
to meet the threshold will be reported to the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs for review and recommendation. The disaster
relief fund may be exempt from this threshold, but failure to meet
this threshold will be forwarded to the Board [Executive
Committee] for review and consideration.
(7) - (8) (No change.)
(i) - (k) (No change.)
(l) Unobligated and recaptured funds. Deobligated funds,
unobligated funds and program income generated by TCF projects shall
be retained for expenditure in accordance with the Consolidated Plan.
Program income derived from TCF projects will be used by the Office
for eligible TxCDBG activities in accordance with the Consolidated
Plan. Any deobligated funds, unobligated funds, program income, and
unused funds from the current year's allocation or from previous years'
allocations derived from any TxCDBG Fund, including program income
recovered from TCF local revolving loan funds, and any reallocated
funds which HUD has recaptured from Small Cities may be redistributed
among the established current program year fund categories, for otherwise
eligible projects. The selection of eligible projects to receive such
funds is approved by the Office Executive Director, or when applicable,
approved by the Board [Office Executive Committee]
or by the TDA on a priority needs basis with eligible disaster relief
and urgent need projects as the highest priority; followed by, any
awards necessary to resolve appeals under fund categories requiring
publication of contract awards in the Texas Register
, TCF projects, special needs projects, projects in
colonias, housing activities, and other projects as determined by
the Office Executive Director. Other purposes or initiatives may be
established as a priority use of such funds within existing fund categories
by the Board [Office Executive Committee]. Should
the TxCDBG be required to make payments to HUD to cover any loan payments
not made by any recipient of a TxCDBG Section 108 loan guarantee,
it would first use any available deobligated funds.
(m) - (n) (No change.)
(o) State review committee. The committee shall consult
with and advise the Office's executive director on the administration
and enforcement policies of the TxCDBG; in consultation with
the executive director and TxCDBG office staff, review and approve
grant and loan applications and associated funding awards of eligible
counties and municipalities and advise and [review funding
recommendations for applicants under the community development fund,
community development supplemental fund, and planning/capacity building
fund and] assist the Office's executive director in the allocation
of program funds to the applicants; review appeals and submit recommendations
for the disposition of such appeals to the Office's executive director
in accordance with the procedures described in subsection (g) of this
section; and report committee actions concerning these tasks to the
Office's executive director through the minutes of committee meetings
and written reports prepared by Office staff on behalf of the committee.
(p) - (t) (No change.)
(u) Performance measures. Each applicant for TxCDBG
funds and each city or county receiving a contract award shall provide
applicable information requested in application guides, the grant
contract, or the most recent edition of the TxCDBG project implementation
manual that is required by the Office to report on Community Development
Block Grant program performance measures promulgated by the
Board [Executive Committee
], the Texas Legislature, and the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development.
(v) - (aa) (No change.)
§255.2.Community Development Fund.
(a) - (c) (No change.)
(d) Selection procedures.
(1) - (5) (No change.)
(6) In consultation with the executive director and TxCDBG office staff, the state review committee reviews and approves grant and loan applications and associated funding awards of eligible counties and municipalities.
[(6) The funding recommendations of
the state review committee are then provided to the executive director
of the Office. If the state review committee recommendations differ
from the funding recommendations of a regional review committee, the
state review committee must provide the affected regional review committee
with a written explanation of its determination. The regional review
committee may then provide a response to the executive director of
the Office. If there is not a consensus between a regional review
committee and the state review committee, all review comments by all
of the parties involved in the selection process will be forwarded
to the executive director of the Office.]
(7) An applicant for a grant, loan, or award under a community development block grant program may appeal a decision of the state review committee by filing a complaint with the Board. The Board will hold a hearing on a complaint filed with the board and render a decision.
[(7) The executive director
of the Office reviews the 2007 final recommendations for project awards
and except for awards exceeding $300,000 announces the contract awards.
Awards exceeding $300,000 are submitted to the Executive Committee
for approval.]
(8) Upon announcement of the 2007 program year contract awards, the Office staff works with recipients to execute the contract agreements. While the award must be based on the information provided in the application, the Office may negotiate any element of the contract with the recipient as long as the contract amount is not increased and the level of benefits described in the application is not decreased. The level of benefits may be negotiated only when the project is partially funded with the remainder of the target allocation within a region.
[(9) When the 2008 program
year TxCDBG allocation becomes available, the executive director of
the Office reviews the 2008 program year final recommendations for
project awards and except for awards exceeding $300,000 announces
the contract awards. Awards exceeding $300,000 are submitted to the
Executive Committee for approval.]
(9) [(10)] Upon announcement
of the 2006 program year contract awards, the Office staff works with
recipients to execute the contract agreements. While the award must
be based on the information provided in the application, the Office
may negotiate any element of the contract with the recipient as long
as the contract amount is not increased and the level of benefits
described in the application is not decreased. The level of benefits
may be negotiated only when the project is partially funded with the
remainder of the target allocation within a region.
(e) - (f) (No change.)
§255.4.Planning/Capacity Building Fund.
(a) - (b) (No change.)
(c) Selection procedures. Scoring and the recommended ranking of projects are done by Office staff with input from the regional review committees. The application and selection procedures consist of the following steps.
(1) - (6) (No change.)
(7) The Office staff submits the 2007 program year
and 2008 program year funding recommendations to the state review
committee. In consultation with the executive director and TxCDBG
office staff, the state review committee reviews and approves grant
applications and associated funding awards of eligible counties and
municipalities. [The state review committee reviews the
project rankings and provides funding recommendations to the executive
director of the Office.]
[(8) The executive director
of the Office reviews the 2007 program year funding recommendations
and except for awards exceeding $300,000 announces the contract awards.
Awards exceeding $300,000 are submitted to the Executive Committee
for approval.]
(8) [(9)] Upon the announcement
of the 2007 program year contract awards, the Office staff works with
recipients to execute the contract agreements. The award is based
on the information provided in the application and on the amount of
funding proposed for each contract activity based on the matrix included
in the most recent application guide for this fund.
[(10) When the 2008 program
year TxCDBG allocation becomes available, the executive director of
the Office reviews the 2008 program year funding recommendations and
except for awards exceeding $300,000 announces the contract awards.
Awards exceeding $300,000 are submitted to the Executive Committee
for approval.]
(9) [(11)] Upon the announcement
of the 2006 program year contract awards, the Office staff works with
recipients to execute the contract agreements. The award is based
on the information provided in the application and on the amount of
funding proposed for each contract activity based on the matrix included
in the most recent application guide for this fund.
(d) (No change.)
§255.9.Colonia Fund.
(a) - (d) (No change.)
(e) Selection procedures.
(1) - (4) (No change.)
(5) Following a final technical review, the Office staff presents the funding recommendations for the 2007 and 2008 colonia construction fund and the 2007 colonia planning fund to the executive director of the Office. In consultation with the executive director and TxCDBG staff, the state review committee reviews and approves grant applications and associated funding awards of eligible counties and municipalities.
[(6) The executive director
of the Office reviews the 2007 final recommendations and except for
awards exceeding $300,000 announces the contract awards. Awards exceeding
$300,000 are submitted to the Executive Committee for approval.]
(6) [(7)] Upon announcement of
the 2007 contract awards, the Office staff works with recipients to
execute the contract agreements. While the award must be based on
the information provided in the application, the Office may negotiate
any element of the contract with the recipient as long as the contract
amount is not increased and the level of benefits described in the
application is not decreased. The level of benefits may be negotiated
only when the project is partially funded.
[(8) When the 2008 program
year TxCDBG allocation becomes available, the executive director of
the Office reviews the 2008 program year colonia construction fund
final recommendations for project awards and except for awards exceeding
$300,000 announces the contract awards. Awards exceeding $300,000
are submitted to the Executive Committee for approval.]
(f) - (j) (No change.)
§255.11.Small Towns Environment Program Fund.
(a) - (e) (No change.)
(f) Selection procedures.
(1) - (3) (No change.)
(4) Following a final technical review, the Office staff makes funding recommendations to the executive director of the Office. In consultation with the executive director of the Office and TxCDBG office staff, the state review committee reviews and approves grant applications and associated funding awards of eligible counties and municipalities.
[(5) The executive director
of the Office reviews the final recommendations and except for awards
exceeding $300,000 announces the contract awards. Awards exceeding
$300,000 are submitted to the Executive Committee for approval.]
(5) [(6)] Upon announcement of
contract awards, the Office staff works with recipients to execute
the contract agreements. While the award must be based on the information
provided in the application, the Office may negotiate any element
of the contract with the recipient as long as the contract amount
is not increased and the level of benefits described in the application
is not decreased. The level of benefits may be negotiated only when
the project is partially funded.
(g) (No change.)
§255.16.Non-Border Colonia Fund.
(a) - (b) (No change.)
(c) Selection procedures.
(1) - (4) (No change.)
(5) Following a final technical review, the Office staff submits the 2007 program year and 2008 program year funding recommendations to the executive director of the Office. In consultation with the executive director and TxCDBG office staff, the state review committee reviews and approves grant applications and associated funding awards of eligible counties and municipalities.
[(6) The executive director
of the Office reviews the 2007 program year funding recommendations
for project awards and except for awards exceeding $300,000 announces
the contract awards. Awards exceeding $300,000 are submitted to the
Executive Committee for approval.]
(6) [(7)] Upon announcement of
the 2007 program year contract awards, the Office staff works with
recipients to execute the contract agreements. While the award must
be based on the information provided in the application, the Office
may negotiate any element of the contract with the recipient as long
as the contract amount is not increased and the level of benefits
described in the application is not decreased. The level of benefits
may be negotiated only when the project is partially funded.
[(8) When the 2008 program
year TxCDBG allocation becomes available, the executive director of
the Office reviews the 2008 program year final recommendations for
project awards and except for awards exceeding $300,000 announces
the contract awards. Awards exceeding $300,000 are submitted to the
Executive Committee for approval.]
(7) [(9)] Upon announcement of
the 2008 program year contract awards, the Office staff works with
recipients to execute the contract agreements. While the award must
be based on the information provided in the application, the Office
may negotiate any element of the contract with the recipient as long
as the contract amount is not increased and the level of benefits
described in the application is not decreased. The level of benefits
may be negotiated only when the project is partially funded with the
remainder of the target allocation within a region.
(d) (No change.)
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on July 7, 2008.
TRD-200803485
Charles S. (Charlie) Stone
Executive Director
Office of Rural Community Affairs
Earliest possible date of adoption: August 17, 2008
For further information, please call: (512) 936-7887