The Planning Grant Program leverages Community Development Block Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to encourage communities to plan for long-term, holistic improvement.
Donor Name: Indiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs
State: Indiana
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/15/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Funding Information
- Utility Study Plans
- Utility Study Plans provide a summary of potential issues and opportunities across drinking, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. By completing this planning, communities will be able to make decisions regarding their most urgent water needs while understanding how each system works in context with other utility systems.
- All utilities controlled by the community must be included in the study.
- For a two-utility study, the maximum grant amount is $60,000.
- For a three-utility study (covering drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater), the maximum grant amount is $90,000.
- Comprehensive Plans
- Comprehensive Planning Grants are designed to aid communities in evaluating assets and identifying opportunities to address current needs in the following areas: land use, government capacity, public services, placemaking, economic development, housing, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, broadband access, and historic resources.
- Funding awarded for Comprehensive Plans is determined based on the size of the community.
- Applicants with a population over 10,000 may request up to $60,000.
- Applicants with a population under 10,000 may request up to $50,000.
- Broadband Readiness Plans
- Broadband Readiness Plans may be created for the community level or regional level.
- Plans for a single community may request up to $50,000.
- Plans for regional applicants may request up to $70,000.
- Broadband Readiness Plans may be created for the community level or regional level.
- Downtown Revitalization Plans
- Funding for Downtown Revitalization Plans is determined based on the size of the community.
- Applicants with a population over 2,000 may request up to $40,000.
- Applicants with a population under 2,000 may request up to $30,000.
- Funding for Downtown Revitalization Plans is determined based on the size of the community.
- Economic Development Plans
- Communities applying for an Economic Development Plan may request up to $40,000.
- COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plans
- Communities may request up to $50,000 for a COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.
- Environmental Assessment Plans
- An Environmental Assessment Plan can aid a community in examining potential environmental impacts and considerations for proposed projects. It can also help identify and mitigate any negative consequences of a project on air and water quality, biodiversity, land use, and societal impacts. Communities applying for an Environmental Assessment may request up to $20,000.
- Historic Preservation Plans
- Communities may request up to $20,000 for a Historic Preservation Plan.
- Feasibility Studies
- Feasibility Studies aid communities in assessing public facilities’ existing conditions, needs, vision for future state and use of the facility to operationalize and implement options from the plan. Eligible facilities include fire stations, senior centers, libraries, childcare centers, community centers, facilities for special needs groups, youth centers, and museums and performance spaces that open doors to knowledge and ideas, culture, and enjoyment.
- Communities applying for a Feasibility Study may request up to $20,000.
Grant Period
The project is ready to proceed upon grant award and will be completed within 12 months after grant award.
Eligible Activities
The following list identifies the general types of eligible activities for the planning grant program. The list is not all-inclusive. Applicants should contact their Community Liaison to determine if their project is eligible for funding. Eligible planning activities consist of all costs associated with data gathering, study, analysis, and preparation of plans and the identification of actions to implement such plans, including:
Community development, redevelopment and functional plans in areas such as:
- Broadband Readiness Plans
- Comprehensive Plans
- Downtown Revitalization Plans
- Economic Development Plans
- Economic Recovery Plans
- Historic Preservation Plans
- Environmental Assessments
- Public Facilities Feasibility Studies
- Water Infrastructure Plans—OCRA does not fund more than one phase or component of a single project type. This applies to all project types, although it is particularly relevant to utility projects. Even if a community does not intentionally phase a project, OCRA will consider previously awarded projects for the same project type during evaluation.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for Planning Grant assistance, projects must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Eligible local units of government are counties, cities, or incorporated towns not located within an entitlement community.
- The lead applicant must be a non-entitlement city, county or incorporated town that possesses the legal capacity to carry out the proposed program.
- The proposed project must meet a national objective and be an eligible activity under Section 105 (a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. In general, the project must either:
- benefit an area or clientele whose population is at least 51% low- and moderate-income
- aid in prevention or elimination of slums or blight (This national objective is only applicable to Downtown Revitalization Plans.)
- If the applicant has previously received any CDBG funds through OCRA or the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) the applicant must NOT have:
- any unresolved monitoring/audit findings
- any overdue grant reports or closeout documents
- More than three (3) CDBG grants that are open or pending award (Indiana cities and incorporated towns), or four (4) CDBG grants that are open or pending award (Indiana counties) from OCRA;
- For those applicants with an open MSRP, WDW, PFP, SIP or BCP a “Notice of Release of Funds and Authorization to Incur Costs” must have been issued for the construction activities under the open MSRP, WDW, PFP, SIP or BCP contract, and a contract for construction of the principal (largest funding amount) construction line item (activity) must have been executed prior to the deadline established by OCRA for receipt of applications for funding.
- For those applicants who have open Planning Fund grants, the community must have the final plan approved by the Office of Community and Rural Affairs prior to submission of MSRP, SIP, WDW, PFP, or BCP application for the project.
- CDBG Program Income collected above $35,000 must be returned to OCRA before another CDBG grant will be approved.
- The cost per beneficiary ratio for the proposed project cannot exceed $5,000 (grant funds only).
- Local match must be provided by the applicant or third-party. Other state, federal or local grants can count toward the local match requirement. The local match must be in the minimum amount of 10% of the total project cost, not the grant amount being requested.
- Procurement of professional services for the planning study must be completed prior to the submission of the planning grant application in eGMS. The applicant must use the Qualification Based Selection (QBS) or Request for Qualifications (RFQ) procurement process. All documentation of the process must be attached to the application.
- Grant Administrators used for CDBG Planning projects must have a Grant Administrator Certification issued by OCRA.
- All maps and photographic documentation included in the application must be in full color and accompanied by captions with dates or clearly defined legends.
For more information, visit OCRA.
