COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program
Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program
CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT
Fiscal Year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016)
SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Introduction
Completion of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) is a requirement for recipients of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds and Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program funds. It is used to report to the community and to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on various aspects of the County’s use of its grants funds. Among the things the CAPER reports on to the community are:
· Housing needs and how those needs were addressed with CDBG, HOME and other funds
· CDBG and HOME expenditures during the fiscal year
· Accomplishments during the year
· How well goals and requirements were met with the funds expended
Cumberland County became an “Urban County” in fiscal year 2005, which meant the County became an entitlement community under the CDBG regulations. As an entitlement community, the County receives annual CDBG grants directly from HUD. Prior to 2005, the County received CDBG funds from the state. The County also qualified as a “Participating Jurisdiction” under the HOME program, and has received HOME grants annually since 2005. The County prepared its third Five Year Consolidated Plan in 2015 that identified priority housing and community development needs and projected a plan to address those needs over the five-year period of 2015 – 2019, inclusive. Prior to each year of the five-year period, recipients write an Annual Action Plan to implement the Consolidated Plan during that year. The 2016 Annual Plan established activities for the year January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016. This CAPER reports on the activities undertaken and the accomplishments during the 2016 program year.
For program year 2016, the County received a CDBG grant of $1,088,198.00, and a HOME grant of $402,489.00. The County projected no Program Income (PI) for the year, but received $145,393.27 of PI.
CDBG Programmatic Requirements
· Timeliness: Unexpended funds may not total more than 1.5 times the current year’s grant amount as of November 2nd each year. In 2016, the County received its grant allocation from HUD in late September. After efforts to allocate funds to “shovel-ready” projects, the County’s Timeliness Ratio on November 2, 2016, was 1.59, out of compliance with the Timeliness Standard. The County submitted a workout plan to HUD, and has brought itself into compliance with the standard as of the end of PY 2016.
· Low- and Moderate-Income Benefit: The requirement is that at least 70% of funds expended during the year, net of planning and administration expenditures must benefit primarily low-income and moderate-income persons. The County disbursed $864,859.09 for activities benefitting LMI individuals in 2016. The percentage of assistance was 84.90% during the PY.
· Public Service Cap: A maximum of 15% of the annual allocation of funds (in addition to the previous year’s program income of $145,342.86) may be spent for public service activities. In 2016, the County disbursed $127,433.04 for this category of activities. $127,433.04, or 11%, for Public Services activities in 2016.
· Administration and Planning Cap: No more than 20% of the annual CDBG allocation, plus Program Income may be used for administration and planning activities. The County obligated $205,040.20 or 16.30% for these types of activities in 2016.
HOME Programmatic Requirements
· CHDO Reserve: A formula grant recipient of HOME funds must reserve a minimum of 15% of its annual grant for use by a CHDO – Community Housing Development Organizations, which are non-profit, affordable housing developers. A recipient has 24 months to commit the required 15% to its CHDO. The County met the 2014 Commitment Deadline using the cumulative calculation method HUD allowed for funds awarded prior to 2015.
The County’s minimum reserve, based on its $402,489.00 HOME grant in 2016 was $60,373.35. The County reserved $344,160 for one CHDO’s activities. The County will commit the funds to a specific project within the 24 month commitment deadline.
· Administration and Planning Cap: Expenditures for these activities are capped at 10% of the grant, or $40,248.90 for the County. The County obligated $38,329.00 for administration in 2016 and disbursed $42,151.54. The County underutilized the 10% administrative amount permitted under HOME for several years and used 2016 as an opportunity to catch up and more regularly draw admin for expensed time. $5,716.83 of the amount disbursed in 2016 was for un-liquidated obligations at the end of 2014.
· HOME Match Requirement: A recipient of HOME formula funds must match its HOME funds draw downs each year at the rate of 1-to-4. That is, for every dollar of HOME funds drawn (excluding administrative expenses), the recipient must permanently invest 25 cents of non-federal funds in housing projects that are either HOME assisted or are eligible for HOME assistance. Based on draws of $221,292.00 of non-administrative HOME funds during the year, the County was obligated to expend $55,323.00 in qualified matching funds. The County had $2,266,193.02 of eligible expenditures from previous years, which were used to match 2016 draws.
Financial Summary:
Following is a summary of the year’s CDBG financial activity:
· Unexpended Balance End of Previous Year – $1,097,659.06
· FY 2016 Entitlement Grant - $1,088,198.00
· FY 2016 Program Income - $145,393.27
Total Funds Available in FY 2016 - $2,331,250.33
· FY 2016 Disbursements - $1,223,675.13
· Unexpended Balance End of FY 2016 - $1,107,575.20
Accomplishments
The CDBG activities implemented during the year and the amounts spent on them are shown in the attached report, IDIS –PR23. In addition to the types and numbers of activities undertaken and the amounts expended, the report also lists the beneficiaries of the activities by income categories and by race and ethnicity.
Cumberland County CD Page 1 of 3 FY 2016 CAPER Summary