Title
An Ordinance approving the City of Lee's Summit Entitlement Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan.
(CEDC 3/13/19)
Body
Issue/Request:
Approval of the 2019-2020 CDBG Annual Action Plan
Key Issues:
To receive CDBG funding from HUD for the 2019-20 program year, the City is required to submit an Annual Action Plan that lays out the community's goals and objectives for the program and programs and projects to be funded to implement the 2015-19 Consolidated Plan. The City Council needs to adopt the proposed 2019-20 Action Plan by ordinance.
Proposed City Council Motion:
FIRST MOTION: I move for second reading of an ordinance approving the City of Lee's Summit Entitlement Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan.
SECOND MOTION: I move for adoption of an ordinance approving the City of Lee's Summit Entitlement Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan.
Background:
Lee's Summit is an Entitlement City under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). An annual grant is provided to the City to meet the Three National Objectives of the CDBG program: Benefiting low-to-moderate income persons, address slum or blight, and meeting urgent needs. For the 2019-20 program year, CDBG grant amount will be $373,739.00 for the Lee's Summit program, a decrease of $16,470.00 or about 4% from last year's $390,209.00. In addition, the City has surplus funds totaling $16,023.60 remaining from various prior year programs and projects due to cost savings or cancellations. These surplus funds need to be reallocated to other programs and projects.
To receive this grant, HUD requires that the City submit an Annual Action Plan each year outlining programs and projects and grant allocation to implement the community goals and objectives established in the City's Consolidated Plan (a 5-year master plan of the program). The City conducts an open public process each year to solicit funding requests from local government and non-profit agencies and prioritizes the requests and adopts a plan for implementation of programs and projects approved for funding.
The CEDC held a public hearing on March 13, 2019 as a part of this open public process. During CEDC public hearing, grant applicants had an opportunity to present their proposals and funding needs and staff presented funding allocation recommendations, based on the 2018-19 program year grant amount instead of the true 2019-20 grant amount because Federal Appropriations had not been released at the time. The CEDC approved a recommendation for the City Council to adopt by ordinance the 2019-20 Annual Action Plan with the staff recommended funding levels, with necessary adjustments to funding allocations based on the official grant amount for 2019-2020. A 30-day public review and comment period was provided starting March 15 through April 19, 2019. No public comments were received by the City during the public comment period.
Impact/Analysis:
HUD will provide $373,739.00 CDBG grant funds to the City for the 2019-20 program year. In addition, the City has a total of $16,023.60 CDBG funds remaining from prior years that need to be reallocated to help fund the 2019-20 programs/projects. The CDBG Program provides annual funding from the federal government to support local housing and support service programs benefiting low-to-moderate income persons and families, which are normally heavily dependent upon grants, donations and other private resources. The program will also help cover part of the City's administrative cost of operating the CDBG Program.
Timeline:
Start: 7/1/2019___
Finish: For public service programs 6-30-2020 and for construction 12-31-2020___
Other Information/Unique Characteristics:
Funds allocated shall be spent before 6/30/2020 for Public Service programs. Funds allocated for construction related projects/programs should follow the 18-month rule based on the date of the grant agreement, however, may be extended if the project reasonably needs more time to complete.
Presenter
Heping Zhan, Assistant Director of Planning and Special Projects
Recommendation
Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of THE CITY OF LEE'S SUMMIT ENTITLEMENT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) 2019-2020 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN by ordinance.
Committee Recommendation
Committee Recommendation: The Community and Economic Development Committee approved a recommendation unanimously for City Council consideration, as presented tonight.