The City of Kingston is seeking applications for its Community Development Block Grant 2024.
Donor Name: City of Kingston
State: New York
City: Kingston
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/04/2023
Size of the Grant: $650,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The purpose of this guide is to assist applicants in designing projects that meet the federal requirements and local priorities of the City of Kingston Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Program for 2024.
The goal of the CDBG program is to develop viable urban communities through:
- Housing
- Economic Development
- Elimination of Slums and Blight
- Expansion of Community Services
- Neighborhood Revitalization
The primary objective of the CDBG program is to benefit persons of low and moderate income. By regulation, the City must allocate at least 70% of its annual CDBG funding on activities that benefit persons of low and moderate income, households, and neighborhoods. The actual regulations may be found in the “Code of Federal Regulations” (CFR) in volume 24 (Housing and Urban Development),Part 570 (Community Development Block Grants).
Funding Information
The City must also prepare its Annual Action Plan for the 2024 Fiscal Year (“FY”), which runs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This is a short-term plan detailing the use of the upcoming fiscal year’s allocation, which is estimated to be approximately $650,000.
Eligible Activities
- Acquisition of Real Property
- CDBG funds may be used to acquire real property by purchase, long term lease, or by donation. Real property includes, land, air rights, easements, water rights, rights of way, buildings and other real property improvements. Real property acquisition does not include movable equipment, furnishings, machinery, land write downs in which the land is purchased at one price and then sold to the same entity at a lower price, or acquiring newly constructed housing. Funds may be provided to private for profit entities if the property is rehabilitated /sold for residential purposes meeting a national objective. Acquisition of real property must always be viewed in terms of the ultimate use of the property in meeting a national objective.
- Disposition of Real Property
- Funds may be used to dispose of real property acquired with CDBG or urban renewal funds provided the property will be used to meet a national objective. To be eligible, the use after disposition must meet a national objective. Proceeds from the disposition are program income to the CDBG program.
- Public Facilities and Improvements
- CDBG funds may be provided to public agencies and private nonprofits for acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or installation of public improvements or facilities provided they meet a national objective. Public improvements and facilities include: shelters, water and sewer facilities, flood and drainage improvements, fire protection facilities, community centers, senior centers, health centers, parking, streets, curbs and sidewalks, parks and playgrounds. Eligible expenditures do not include costs of operating or maintaining the public facilities and improvements once they are renovated or constructed. Also not eligible are the costs of purchasing construction equipment and costs of furnishings and other personal property except firefighting equipment. Public facilities may be owned by private nonprofit organizations but such facilities must be open for use by the public during normal hours of operation. Government buildings may be considered public facilities when they provide public services for other than the general conduct of government.
- Clearance
- CDBG funds may be used for clearance, demolition, and removal of buildings and improvements provided these activities meet a national objective. Demolition of HUD assisted housing units may be undertaken only with the prior approval of HUD.
- Public Service
- CDBG funds may be used to provide public services including but are not limited to: child care, health care, job training, recreation, education, public safety, fair housing, senior services, homeless services, drug abuse services, energy conservation testing. Public services do not include payments to individuals for food, clothing, rent or other income payments. Eligible program costs for public services include payment for labor, supplies and materials to administer the program and the costs of operating that portion of a facility in which the public is located. Eligible costs may also include the purchase or lease of furnishings, equipment, or other necessary personal property, which are typically not eligible expenditures under other activities. A maximum of 15% of annual Entitlement Grant may be allocated for public services.
- Interim Assistance
- CDBG Funds may be used for certain activities on an interim basis provided the activities meet a national objective. Eligible interim assistance includes projects that are a prelude to permanent improvements in a deteriorating area when there are determinable signs of physical deterioration and where immediate action is necessary to arrest the deterioration. Eligible activities include repair of streets ,sidewalks, public buildings, parks and playgrounds and publicly owned utilities, special trash collection and neighborhood cleanup campaigns. CDBG funds may be used to alleviate emergency conditions that threaten public health and safety when designated an emergency by the City of Kingston.
- Relocation
- CDBG funds may be used for relocation payments and assistance to displaced individuals, families, businesses, nonprofit organizations and farms. Relocation assistance is required if the displacement is caused by CDBG funded activities. In these cases, assistance is required under federal regulations that specify the eligibility and amount of payments to be provided. Relocation assistance is optional when displacement is caused by factors other than CDBG funded activities.
- Loss of Rental Income
- CDBG funds may be used to pay housing owners for losses of rental income incurred in holding, for temporary periods, housing units to be used for the relocation of persons and families displaced by CDBG assisted activities(570.201(j)). Privately Owned Utilities – CDBG funds may be provided to public agencies and nonprofit organizations to acquire, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, or install distribution lines and facilities of privately owned utilities provided the activity meets a national objective.
Eligible Types of Property
- Residential‐ privately or publicly owned
- Commercial/Industrial – if owned by a for-profit, rehabilitation is limited to exterior improvements and correcting code violations
- Other ‐ nonprofit owned nonresidential improvements
Criteria for national objectives
The following criteria shall be used to determine whether a CDBG-assisted activity complies with one or more of the national objectives as required under:
- Activities benefiting low- and moderate-income persons. Activities meeting the criteria to benefit low and moderate income persons unless there is substantial evidence to the contrary. In assessing any such evidence, the full range of direct effects of the assisted activity will be considered. (The recipient shall appropriately ensure that activities that meet these criteria do not benefit moderate income persons to the exclusion of low income persons.)
- Area benefit activities. An activity, the benefits of which are available to all the residents in a particular area, where at least 51 percent of the residents are low and moderate income persons.
- Limited clientele activities. An activity which benefits a limited clientele, at least 51 percent of whom are low- or moderate-income persons.
- Housing activities. An eligible activity carried out for the purpose of providing or improving permanent residential structures which, upon completion, will be occupied by low- and moderate-income households.
- Job creation or retention activities. An activity designed to create or retain permanent jobs where at least 51 percent of the jobs, computed on a full time equivalent basis, involve the employment of low- and moderate-income persons.
- Activities which aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight. Activities will be considered to aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight.
- Activities designed to meet community development needs having a particular urgency
For more information, visit City of Kingston.
