The City of Rocklin’s Annual Action Plan describes the funding strategy for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) each year. The Annual Action Plan is a tool to assist in implementing the City’s five-year Consolidated Plan, and each Annual Action Plan is developed through public input, analyses and planning.
The City’s Citizen Participation Plan outlines the steps the City will take to encourage its residents to participate in developing each Annual Action Plan, and any substantial amendments to the Annual Action Plan that are proposed. The following changes to the 2020 Annual Action Plan require a substantial amendment, initiating the public notice requirements described in the Citizen Participation Plan.
This is the only required public hearing in the preparation of the City’s second substantial amendment to the adopted 2020 HUD One-Year Action Plan.
The Action Plan identifies the specific activities the City will undertake during the Program Year (PY) and subsequent Action Plans will be adopted for each respective year of the Consolidated Plan (2020-2025). The City was notified of an award of $279,064 in Standard CDBG funds for the 2020 Program Year and a separate award of $164,189 in CDBG-CV-1 funds from the CARES Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to be used specifically for the prevention of, preparation for, and response to the Coronavirus. Allocation of the CDBG-CV-1 funds was the primary focus of the first substantial amendment to the 2020 Annual Action Plan approved by the City Council on September 22, 2020.
The City was notified of an award of $299,113 in CDBG-CV-3 funds from the CARES Act, funding to be used specifically for the prevention of, preparation for, and response to the Coronavirus. The second round of CDBG-CV-2 funding was allocated to States and insular areas. CDBG-CV-3 funds must be expended within the same time period as CDBG-CV-1 allocation timeframe of 6 years and 80% of the CDBG-CV-3 funds must be expended within 3 years.
Staff published a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in the local Placer Herald newspaper (December 18, 2020). The NOFA was also published on the City’s website and sent to the three relevant Listservs (Placer Consortium on Homelessness, Placer Collaborative Network and Homeless Resources Council of the Sierras) on December 11, 2020. Staff received only two applications in response to the NOFA, from The Gathering Inn and the Salvation Army, which are considered public services. Typically, no more than 15% of the current year award can be expended on public services during the Program Year under standard regulations. However, the CARES Act suspends the public services limitation for CDBG-CV-1 and CDBG-CV-3, PY 2019 and PY 2020. For activities that fall under the public services category in PY 2020, all amounts over 15% must be to prepare for, prevent or respond to Coronavirus.
Since the total amount of funds requested did not reach the amount of funding available and in order to have a better opportunity to use the total allocation, another NOFA to solicit additional applications/proposals was published in the local Placer Herald newspaper, on the City’s website and sent to the three relevant Listservs (Placer Consortium on Homelessness, Placer Collaborative Network and Homeless Resources Council of the Sierras) on May 14, 2021. No additional applications were submitted.
Staff recommends amending the 2020 Annual Action Plan in order to accept the total allocation of $299,113 and to use an initial portion of the CDBG-CV-3 funding. The following are the recommended changes to the 2020 Annual Action Plan in the second substantial amendment:
- The Gathering Inn (TGI) to receive $50,000 in CDBG-CV-3 funds to provide housing assistance (Rapid Rehousing & Homeless Prevention), employment assistance (required work-related supplies, short term transportation funding), and educational assistance (distance learning supplies, books, programs, etc.) to guests in TGI programs who have direct ties to Rocklin.
- The Salvation Army to receive $20,000 in CDBG-CV-3 funds for the rental assistance program to respond to income reductions related to Coronavirus.
- The remaining $229,113 in CDBG-CV-3 funds will be identified as a “To be determined” placeholder in the Annual Action Plan to allow for future use if other activities are developed that can address the prevention of, preparation for, and response to the Coronavirus.
Agreements with all subrecipients will specify that Rocklin funds must be utilized to assist Rocklin residents only.
Agreements with all subrecipients will specify that there will be no duplication of funds, and any funds that are found to be in duplication will be returned to the City.
Public Process
The second substantial amendment to the 2020 Annual Action Plan was available for public comment and review from July 2 to July 9, 2021. The City provided public notice and an opportunity to comment on the second substantial amendment for a period that exceeded the required five-day minimum. The City previously modified its Citizen Participation Plan to incorporate a public comment period of five (5) calendar days during declared disasters or emergency events, such as the recent Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
There were no public comments.
Unspent Funds from Previous Years
Upon review of the City’s CDBG program balances, it was discovered that approximately $7,600 of unspent funds from previous years grant programs needed to be reallocated to current projects. Due to HUD’s 15% spending caps associated with the public services category, staff recommends that the $7,600 in unspent funds be reallocated to Public Facilities for the ADA improvement project identified in the 2020 Annual Action Plan.