Agenda - 10-17-2013 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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M ability to pay. A low- wealth county would have a lower ability to pay versus what the state perceives to be a high - wealth county. The county's employment rate and the per capita income are important components in a highly competitive grant process. However, early information from CDBG for the coming grant year is that individual grants of up_ to $750,000 dollars may be available. Last year, Orange County applied for and received funds for individual residential hookups in the Rogers Road Neighborhood ($7- 5,000). Since that time, some water and sewer connections were completed, but the County was able to do that only because water and sewer infrastructure was already in place. There were a few houses in the community that were adjacent to existing water or sewer lines that were connected, and the occupants were low- income. (They had an income of less than 50% of area median income). It will be difficult for Orange County to compete for these resources; resources will depend on the completion in any given year and the pool of funding available funds. All other things equal, Orange County would have difficulty competing with other areas because the County is considered a wealthy county and is not economically distressed. To -qualify today, the families or individuals that live in this area have to meet an income standard which is 50% of the median family income. (For example: the median annual income for a family of four is around $64,000, so to qualify a family in this area would have to have an annual income of no more than $32,000). The County has basically funded most of the individuals that meet that standard, and have already connected them to water and sewer. Finding additional property owners that meet that income cutoff would be difficult. There are not that many home owners in the Rogers Road Neighborhood that are going to meet that income qualification. The Task Force is looking at a total project cost of $5.8 million. A CDBG could cover roughly twelve percent of the total estimated costs. The CDBG of $750,000 will require 5% matching funds of $37,500. In the community development criteria, the areas that CDBG's are willing to fund are water first and sewer second. A CDBG is much more inclined to fund a collaborative effort between units of local government, such as this project. This collaboration would have a higher priority than any one government acting independently. There are some pre -grant application costs that would be incurred on the front end of the process. The Task Force is searching for local funding of $5 million even if the project could qualify for a CDBG. 0