COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Human Services Agency

Office of Housing

 

DATE:

April 15, 2002

BOARD MEETING DATE:

May 7, 2002

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Maureen Borland, Director, Human Services Agency

 

Steve Cervantes, Director, Office of Housing

SUBJECT:

APPROVAL OF THE FY 02-03 ACTION PLAN FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) AND EMERGENCY SHELTER GRANT (ESG) PROGRAMS

 

Recommendation

1.

Conduct a public hearing; and

2.

Adopt a resolution authorizing

 

a)

Approval of the FY 02-03 Action Plan for the use of funds provided under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Programs; and

 

b)

Submission of required certifications to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

 

Background

HUD provides annual allocations of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funds to the County, on behalf of itself and the 16 small cities. (The four largest cities each receive their own CDBG allocations from HUD.) Federal regulations require a public participation process regarding the funds distribution.

 

Each fall, the Community Development Committee (CDC), a Board-appointed body, meets to determine funding priorities for both programs. From December through January, the County solicits applications from local nonprofit, City, and County agencies. In March, the proposals are reviewed via a public process presided by the CDC. A draft Action Plan enumerating CDBG and ESG funding recommendations is submitted for Board consideration and approval. After Board approval, the final Action Plan is then forwarded to HUD by May 15 to meet the July 1 timeline for new fiscal year funding.

 

To reduce paperwork and to facilitate the application process for applicants, Office of Housing Staff has combined the CDBG and ESG applications into one. This has also allowed Staff more latitude on funding decisions for those eligible for both ESG and CDBG funding.

 

Discussion

 

HUD Allocations/ Program Budget

The County will experience a funding decrease under both CDBG and ESG. The impact translates into $1,000 reduction under ESG - from $129,000 to $128,000. Under CDBG the impact is steeper - almost 3% or a $111,000 drop - from $3,766,000 to $3,655,000.

 

The program budget for CDBG is augmented by program income (loan repayments) and reprogrammed CDBG funds. For the upcoming fiscal year this will mean another $2.6 million. Therefore, total CDBG funding available for FY 02-03 will be $5,681,203. Including ESG, the CDBG/ESG program planning budget is $5,809,203.

 
 

Public Hearing

On March 20, 2002, the CDC chaired an all-day public meeting at which all the applicants were invited to present their proposals. At the meeting, the CDC reviewed Staff recommendations, resulting in some funding re-formulations. In mid-April, the San Mateo Times will publish the funding recommendations, the subject of the public hearing of this memorandum. At the close of the public hearing, the Board is asked to finalize the recommendations for submission to HUD as part of the annual update to the HUD-required five-year Consolidated Plan, covering FY 89/99 through 02/03

 
 

CDBG Funding in County

At the March 20 meeting, the CDC members were provided historic information on CDBG expenditures by geographic area to assist in their funding deliberations. The CDC was given Table 1, which illustrates County CDBG housing rehabilitation investments during the past decade. They also received a modified version of Table 2 showing more generalized CDBG expenditures. As noted earlier, the Cities of Daly City, South San Francisco, San Mateo and Redwood City each receive a direct CDBG allocation from HUD. Therefore, in listing the four CDBG "entitlement" cities, Tables 1 and 2 only note the role of County CDBG funding for jointly funded projects in those respective cities.

 
 

CDC Recommendations

The County received proposals requesting a total of $13.1 million - more than twice the funds available. Table 3 summarizes the sequence of funding recommendations - in which Staff made preliminary recommendations, followed by the CDC advisory recommendations, and then subsequently by Human Services Agency management. Noteworthy highlights include:

 

_

Final management review led to a few revisions. (See Table 3 column Final HSA Recommendations). The Notes in the last table column explain Staff rationale for the modifications.

 

_

The final funding proposal also includes a CDBG pre-commitment from FY 03-04 to support the Shelter Network First Step transitional and emergency housing reconstruction in San Mateo. Shelter Network, in its public presentation, made this request for a funding pre-commitment, which had not been included in the CDC's funding deliberations.

 

_

While the CDC had established "a goal of at least 40%" of the annual CDBG grant for housing development, the actual recommendations fall short. The housing development recommendations result in only 33 to 34% of the CDBG grant.

 

_

Up to fifteen percent of the CDBG grant, or $548,250, can be allocated to public/community services (versus capital projects and economic development). Funding recommendations in this category focused primarily on program operations involving housing and homeless services. Child care is an identified CDBG priority within the context of capacity-building through rehabilitation and expansion of child care centers. As such, child care subsidies is seen as more appropriate for other funding sources.

 

_

ESG funding of $121,600, due to its relatively small amount, was allocated to one emergency shelter program. Other worthwhile shelter programs were recommended for CDBG public services funding.

 
 

HUD Certifications

In order to receive CDBG and ESG funds, the County must submit certifications to HUD assuring that the County (1) will not discriminate in providing services; (2) is following a detailed citizens participation process delineating a public input plan; (3) is providing a drug-free workplace for staff; (4) has adopted and is enforcing a policy prohibiting the excessive use of force against any individuals engaged in non-violent civil rights demonstrations. In approving the Action Plan, the Board is therefore asked to approve the aforementioned certifications.

 

Vision Alignment

The CDBG/ESG Action Plan keeps three commitments: (1) Realize the potential of our diverse population, goal number 2: Civic engagement - including voting, public service, charitable giving, volunteerism an participation in public discussions of important issues - uniformly high among diverse populations; (2) Offer a full range of housing choices, goal number 9: Housing exists for people at all income levels for all generations of families; and (3) Responsive, effective and collaborative government, goal number 20: Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain. The Action Plan contributes to these commitments and goals by its very public participation activities which invoke a civic engagement process based on careful consideration of future impact, including the assurance of affordable housing opportunities for families and various special needs populations.

 

Fiscal Impact

Funding will be provided under the FY 02-03 CDBG and ESG Programs, along with CDBG program income (loan repayments) and CDBG reprogrammed funds.