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70 <br /> ability to pay. A low-wealth county would have a lower ability to pay versus what the <br /> state perceives to be a high-wealth county. The county's employment rate and the per <br /> capita income are important components in a highly competitive grant process. <br /> However, early information from CDBG for the coming grant year is that individual <br /> grants of up_to $750,000 dollars may be available. <br /> Last year, Orange County applied for and received funds for individual residential <br /> hookups in the Rogers Road Neighborhood ($7-5,000). Since that time, some water and <br /> sewer connections were completed, but the County was able to do that only because <br /> water and sewer infrastructure was already in place. There were a few houses in the <br /> community that were adjacent to existing water or sewer lines that were connected, and <br /> the occupants were low-income. (They had an income of less than 50% of area median <br /> income). It will be difficult for Orange County to compete for these resources; resources <br /> will depend on the completion in any given year and the pool of funding available funds. <br /> All other things equal, Orange County would have difficulty competing with other areas <br /> because the County is considered a wealthy county and is not economically distressed. <br /> To-qualify today, the families or individuals that live in this area have to meet an income <br /> standard which is 50% of the median family income. (For example: the median annual <br /> income for a family of four is around $64,000, so to qualify a family in this area would <br /> have to have an annual income of no more than $32,000). The County has basically <br /> funded most of the individuals that meet that standard, and have already connected <br /> them to water and sewer. Finding additional property owners that meet that income <br /> cutoff would be difficult. There are not that many home owners in the Rogers Road <br /> Neighborhood that are going to meet that income qualification. <br /> The Task Force is looking at a total project cost of $5.8 million. A CDBG could cover <br /> roughly twelve percent of the total estimated costs. The CDBG of $750,000 will require <br /> 5% matching funds of $37,500. In the community development criteria, the areas that <br /> CDBG's are willing to fund are water first and sewer second. A CDBG is much more <br /> inclined to fund a collaborative effort between units of local government, such as this <br /> project. This collaboration would have a higher priority than any one government acting <br /> independently. There are some pre-grant application costs that would be incurred on <br /> the front end of the process. The Task Force is searching for local funding of $5 million <br /> even if the project could qualify for a CDBG. <br /> 8 <br />