Grant Eligibility: CDBG National Objectives

Only a City, Town, or County Government is eligible to apply for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. However, a Special District or a Nonprofit Agency can receive the funds through the city, town, or county government.

In order to be eligible, applications for CDBG funds must meet one or more of three "National Objectives" established by Congress:

1. Primarily benefit Low to Moderate income persons; or   

2. Prevent or eliminate slum and blight conditions; or

3. Satisfy an Urgent Need.

How to Demonstrate the Community Project Meets One of Three National Objectives:

1. Low-Mod: Demonstrate that the project will benefit the “low to moderate income” (LM) population. A LM household is one in which total annual household income is less than 80 percent of the average income for same size families in that area. These averages vary in different counties of the state and are calculated by HUD annually. Click here to view the ADOH publications page, where these numbers are published each year.

There are also other beneficiaries, designated areas, or types of projects that are automatically considered to benefit low-mod persons. To be eligible for CDBG funds under the LM National Objective, the Applicant must either:

Show that at least 51% of the beneficiaries where the project will take place (the service area) are of LM income. This can be accomplished thought Census Block Group data, or Special Income Surveys of the service area (conducted per the requirements of ADOH).

In the case of Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation (OOHR), show that the houses to be rehabilitated are owned and occupied by LM income persons; or

Show that jobs will be offered to LM income persons.

Show that the direct beneficiaries of the project are “Limited Clientele,” which are target groups presumed by HUD to be primarily LM. These include:

·  Abused children

·  Elderly persons

·  Battered spouses

·  Homeless persons

·  Adults meeting Bureau of Census’ definition of severely disabled adults

·  Illiterate adults

·  Persons living with AIDS, and

·  Migrant farm workers.

2. Slum and Blight: CDBG projects satisfying the Slum and Blight National Objective take place within an area designated as such by the applicant community. Designating an area as Slum and Blight requires a statutory process involving public notice, hearings and a Council/Board Resolution. This designation marks the neighborhood or building as targeted for increased investment, and is an additional mechanism for obtaining CDBG funding.

3. Urgent Need: To satisfy this National Objective, the community must demonstrate that the project will help meet an urgent need, that the problem happened recently, and the community has no other funds to solve it. This could be qualified automatically in the event of a serious natural disaster such as fire or flood. Alternatively, a community can demonstrate urgent need by showing that a problem poses a serious hazard or threat to public health if not remedied quickly. Supporting documentation from agencies such as the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) may be required.

Public Involvement for the CDBG Application Process

In order to be eligible, a community applying for CDBG funds must hold at least two public hearings to let residents and community stakeholders identify possible projects. Public hearing notices also must be published in local or area newspapers. Notices must be published and posted before the community can send its application to the ADOH. Although the public is invited to participate, the elected officials in the city, town or county make the final decision regarding which project is applied for.