For City Council Meeting January 14, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: G. Michael Milhiser, Interim City Manager
AUTHOR: Cynthia Alvarado, Director of Parks, Recreation & Community Services
Title
Request City Council To Set A Public Hearing For February 25, 2025, To Consider And Approve Substantial Amendment No. 8 Revising Budget Amounts To CDBG-CV Activities Within The City’s 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council Set A Public Hearing For February 25, 2025, To Consider And Approve Substantial Amendment No. 8 Revising Budget Amounts To CDBG-CV Activities Within The City’s 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan.
BACKGROUND
On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which appropriates nearly $2 trillion nationwide for COVID-19 pandemic relief funding. $5 billion of these CARES Act funds, referred to in this report as CDBG-CV funds, were appropriated to the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) to assist state and local governments in their COVID-19 response.
This substantial amendment No. 8 will account for the revision of proposed budgets to be carried out with the City’s CDBG-CV funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); totaling $1,339,584. The CDBG Ad-Hoc Committee will provide funding recommendations at their next public meeting for inclusion in the Draft Substantial Amendment which will be made available for review and consideration during the anticipated 30-day public comment period between January 24, 2025, through February 25, 2025.
CDBG CARES Funding Background
The CDBG program is a federally funded program of HUD that provides funding for housing, community facilities, and public services. On April 2, 2020, HUD announced the allocation of the first $2 billion in CARES Act funding for current CDBG grantees. The CARES Act builds on features of the existing CDBG program as well as precedent set by CDBG Disaster Response (CDBG-DR) supplemental appropriations. The act directs HUD to administer these funds, pursuant to Section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306). This provision calls for HUD to allocate the supplemental funds to CDBG grantees -including eligible local governments, states, and insular areas - proportional to their conventional Fiscal Year 2020 CDBG allocation, as published by HUD in April 2020.
CDBG-CV funding is intended to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus based on public health needs, risk of transmission of coronavirus, number of coronavirus cases compared to the national average, and economic and housing market disruptions. The remaining funds will be distributed to states and units of local government on a rolling basis, at the discretion of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with formula factors to be defined by HUD.
The City received $1,339,584 in Supplemental Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funding to help prepare, prevent, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City amended their 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan to allocate funds to programs and activities throughout the City to help struggling residents in the community. The City allocated funds as follows:
|
Activity |
Allocation |
|
Rental/Mortgage Assistance |
$ 600,000 |
|
Utility Assistance |
$ 300,000 |
|
Store Front Small Business Assistance |
$ 200,000 |
|
PPE for Seniors |
$ 25,260 |
|
Workforce Development |
$ 114,324 |
|
COVID TESTING |
$ 100,000 |
|
Total: |
$ 1,339,584 |
Over the course of two years, several substantial amendments were approved to meet the changing needs of the community. On May 9, 2023, City Council approved Substantial Amendment No. 6 appropriating $1,339,584 of CDBG-CV funds to the below programs as follows:
|
Activity |
Allocation |
|
Rental/Mortgage/Utility Assistance |
$ 560,000 |
|
Store Front Small Business Assistance |
$ 200,000 |
|
Food Insecurity Program |
$ 100,000 |
|
PPE & Hot Meals for Seniors |
$ 25,260 |
|
Workforce Development (NCNW) |
$ 57,162 |
|
Social Work Action Group (SWAG) |
$ 197,162 |
|
Warming Center |
$ 200,000 |
|
Total: |
$ 1,339,584 |
On August 13, 2024, the City Council approved Amendment No. 7 to the 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan for the CDBG-CV Store Front Small Business Assistance Program. The Council amended the program guidelines to allow applicants to demonstrate a loss of income, extending the review period to 2023.
Additionally, the Council approved the initiation of an application period for Community Service Organizations. Applications were solicited and are currently under review in accordance with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Subrecipient process and CDBG-CV eligibility criteria.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
The City has until February 2027 to spend $1,339,584 in CDBG-CV funds. To date, a total of $899,136.60 has been spent. The only active program currently funded by CDBG-CV is the Store Front Small Business Assistance program. Currently, there are no applications under review, as all submitted applications have been evaluated by staff for completeness and eligibility.
The current available balance is $334,447.40, excluding the Store Front Small Business Assistance program's balance of $106,000, since it is still an active program. The total unexpended amount, including the Store Front Small Business Assistance program, is $440,447.40.
An overview of the current allocation of CDBG-CV funding includes a summary of each program’s allocation and expenditures to date as follows:
The CDBG Ad-Hoc Committee will provide funding recommendations at their next public meeting for inclusion in the Draft Substantial Amendment which will be made available for review and consideration during the anticipated 30-day public comment period between January 24, 2025, through February 25, 2025.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The request is not a Project as defined by Section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
Guiding Principle 3 Rialto’s Economic Environment is Healthy and Diverse. Our City Government will lead by example, and will operate in an open, transparent, and responsive manner that meets the needs of the citizens and is a good place to do business.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed the staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
There is no impact to the City’s Budget.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
There is no impact to the Capital Improvement Budget.
Licensing
There are no licensing agreements needed for this item.