Part 6. OFFICE OF RURAL COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Chapter 255. TEXAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Subchapter A. ALLOCATION OF PROGRAM FUNDS
The Office of Rural Community Affairs (Office) proposes amendments to §255.1 for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) non-entitlement area funds.
The amendments are being proposed to specify criteria contained within the 2008 Action Plan.
Charles S. (Charlie) Stone, Executive Director of the Office, has determined that for the first five-year period the amendments are in effect there will be no fiscal implications for state or local government as a result of enforcing or administering the amendments as proposed.
Mr. Stone has also determined that for each year of the first five-year period the amendments are in effect the public benefit as a result of enforcing the amended section will be the equitable allocation of CDBG non-entitlement 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 Texas 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 amendments.
§255.1.General Provisions.
(a) (No change.)
(b) Overview--Community Development Block Grant nonentitlement area funds are distributed by the TxCDBG to eligible units of general local government in the following program areas:
(1) community development fund [
and community development supplemental fund
];
(2) - (13) (No change.)
(14) non-border colonia fund
;
[
.
]
(15) renewable energy demonstration pilot program.
(c) - (d) (No change.)
(e) Ineligible activities. Any type of activity not described or referred to in the Federal Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, §5305(a) (42 United States Code §5301 et seq.) is ineligible for funding under the TxCDBG.
(1) Specific ineligible activities include, but are not limited to: construction of buildings and facilities used for the general conduct of government (e.g., city halls and courthouses); new housing construction, except as described as eligible under the current TxCDBG application guides; the financing of political activities; purchases of construction equipment (except in limited circumstances under the small towns environment program); income payments, such as housing allowances; most operation and maintenance expenses (including smoke testing televising/video taping line work, or any other investigative method to determine the overall scope and location of the project work activities) ; pre-contract costs, except for costs incurred prior to submittal of an application and paid with local government or other funds for administrative consultant and engineering/architectural services and pre-agreement costs described in a TxCDBG contract; prisons/detention centers; government supported facilities; and racetracks.
(2) (No change.)
(f) - (g) (No change.)
(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) (No change.)
(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
[
Legislative Budget Board
]
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 Executive Committee for review and consideration.
(7) - (8) (No change.)
(i) - (m) (No change.)
(n) Performance threshold requirements. In addition to the requirements of subsection (h) of this section, an applicant must satisfy the following performance requirements in order to be eligible to apply for program funds. A contract is considered executed for the purposes of this subsection on the date stated in section 2 of such contract.
(1) Obligate at least 50% of the total TxCDBG funds awarded under an open TxCDBG contract within 12 months from the start date of the contract or prior to the application deadlines and have received all applicable environmental approvals from TxCDBG covering this obligation . This threshold is applicable to TxCDBG contracts with an original 24-month contract period. To meet this threshold, 50% of the TxCDBG funds must be obligated through executed contracts for administrative services, engineering services, acquisition, construction, materials purchase, etc. The TxCDBG contract activities do not have to be 50% completed, nor do 50% of the TxCDBG contract funds have to be expended to meet this threshold. This threshold is applicable to previously awarded TxCDBG contracts under the community development fund, community development supplemental fund, the colonia construction fund, the colonia planning fund, the non-border colonia fund the planning and capacity building fund, and the disaster relief/urgent need fund. This threshold is not applicable to previously awarded TxCDBG contracts under the TCF, the housing infrastructure fund, the housing rehabilitation fund, the colonia self-help centers fund, the colonia economically distressed area program fund, the Young v. Martinez fund, the disaster recovery initiative program, microenterprise loan fund, small business loan fund, Section 108 loan guarantee pilot program, and the small towns environment program fund. This paragraph does not apply to a city or county that meets the eligibility criteria for current assistance from the TxCDBG disaster relief fund.
(2) - (3) (No change.)
(4) Submit to the Office the certificate of expenditures
(COE) report showing the expended TxCDBG funds and a final drawdown
for any remaining TxCDBG funds as required by the most recent edition
of the TxCDBG Project Implementation Manual. Any reserved funds on
the COE must be approved in writing by TxCDBG staff. To meet this
threshold "expended" means that the construction and services covered
by the TxCDBG funds are complete and a drawdown for the TxCDBG funds
has been submitted prior to the application deadlines. This threshold
will apply to an open TxCDBG contract with an original 36-month contract
period or a small towns environment program 24-month contract, extended to
36
[
26
] months, and to TxCDBG contractors
that have reached the end of the 36-month period prior to the application
deadlines. This threshold is applicable to previously awarded TxCDBG
contracts under the housing infrastructure fund (when the applicant
is applying for the housing infrastructure fund competition) and the
small towns environment program fund original 36-month contract or
original 24-month contract, extended to 36 months. This threshold
is not applicable to previously awarded TxCDBG contracts under the
TCF, the housing rehabilitation fund, the colonia self-help centers
fund, the colonia economically distressed area program fund, the Young
v. Martinez fund, the disaster recovery initiative program the microenterprise
loan fund, the small business loan fund, and the section 108 loan
guarantee pilot program. This paragraph does not apply to a city or
county that meets the eligibility criteria for current assistance
from the TxCDBG disaster relief fund.
(o) - (q) (No change.)
(r) Withdrawal of award.
(1) Should the applicant fail to substantiate or maintain the claims and statements made in the application upon which the award is based , including failure to maintain compliance with application thresholds in subsection (h)(1) - (4) of this section, within a period ending 90 days after the date of the TxCDBG's award letter to the applicant, the award will be immediately withdrawn by the TxCDBG (excluding the colonia self-help center awards).
(2) (No change.)
(s) - (y) (No change.)
(z) If an audit becomes due after the award date, the Office may withhold the issuance of a contract until it receives a satisfactory audit. If a satisfactory audit is not received by the Office within four months of the audit due date, the Office may withdraw the award and re-allocate the funds in accordance with subsection (s) of this section (excludes the colonia self-help center awards and Texas Capital Fund awards).
(aa) If the Regional Review Committee for a particular region fails to approve, to the satisfaction of the Office, an objective scoring methodology for the 2009 Community Development Fund competition, the Office will award 2008 Program Year funds in that region for the Community Development Fund and Community Development Supplemental Fund based the state's existing scores under section IV (C)(1)(a-e) of the approved 2007 Texas CDBG Action Plan.
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 February 29, 2008.
TRD-200801239
Charles S. (Charlie) Stone
Executive Director
Office of Rural Community Affairs
Earliest possible date of adoption: April 13, 2008
For further information, please call: (512) 936-7887