CITY OF MURRIETA
FY 2024-2025 CDBG PROGRAM
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS
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PURPOSE
To set forth procedures to be used for allocating the annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
BACKGROUND
Each year the City of Murrieta is entitled to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel opment through the CDBG Progra m to financ e projects and services, which benefit low/moderate income persons/households within the community. In response to the City’s CDBG application, the City receives numerous applications for funding from local organizations.
In an e ffort to facilitat e the a ctivity selection and funding al location process, the following procedures have been established for the program.
OBJECTIVE
The intent of this process is to streamline the CDBG funding allocation procedures and implement specific proposal evaluation crit eria t hat ca n be used to assist in the sel ection of activities for funding on an annual basis. This process describes the CDBG applic ation process; outlines the review process for activity selection and funding recommendations. A CDBG Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) or staff recomme ndations, can be appoint ed to review and make recommendations to the City Council on funding levels for each of the eligible activities submitted by organizations.
PROCEDURES
The goal of the City of Murrieta is to develop a well-balanced CDBG Program that reflects the various needs of its low to moderate-income residents, with four primary areas of focus:
1) Community Food Pantries
2) Women’s Programs
3) Domestic Violence Programs
4) Children and Youth Development Programs
The following procedures outline the steps to be used by the CAC and/or Staff of the City Manager’s office in selecting activities, which provide for a well-balanced program and in making recommendations for allocation of the funds on an annual basis:
1) Interested persons and non-profit organizations may submit a request for funding on the appropriate application form. A public notice in a local newspaper of general circulation will indicate how to obtain an application and the due date for all proposals. Generally, the application review process will begin in September of each year. 2) Upon receipt of proposals/applications for funding, the City Manager’s Office staff will make a determination regarding the eligibility of each proposed project for funding consideration under the program. Requests for funds shall be considered for funding only
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS
if the application is complete and demonstrates that the following conditions have been met:
a. The governing board formally authorized the organization’s request for CDBG funds from the City of Murrieta and authorized official to bind organization into subsequent agreements for CDBG funds;
b. The proposed use of funds is an eligible activity, per the Federal regulations for the CDBG Program;
c. The organization and the proposed activity must not have an outstanding or unresolved funding of violation of the federal regulations governing the CDBG Program;
d. The proposed use of funds meets at least one national objective for the CDBG program, as established by the Federal regulations.
3) All complete applications, which have met the conditions outlined above, shall be considered eligible for funding consideration and shall continue in the activity selection and funding allocation process. All applications that are deemed ineligible for funding consideration shall receive notification that the application for funds is ineligible due to a specified reason and will not be reviewed further by staff or the Advisory Committee. 4) The CAC and/or Staff will consider the needs of lower income residents in developing recommendations to the City Council for the funding of activities which are the “most qualified” to meet those needs.
5) Each eligible application for funds shall be reviewed and evaluated, for ranking purposes, based upon the criteria outlined below. The CAC Members and/or City Manager’s Office staff will evaluate each eligible proposal/application for funds and assign a score based on a maximum 100-point scale using the following criteria. a. ORGANIZATIONAL ABILITY/CAPACITY Maximum of 20 Points i. Experience of organization in providing
services to low/moderate income
persons/households and in providing the
proposed activity.
ii. Capacity/ability of staff assigned to implement
proposed activity.
iii. Organization’s experience with the
administration of CDBG or other State or
Federal funds.
iv. Level of ability demonstrated by organization
to provide services and to adhere to applicable
local, State, or Federal regulations governing
funding sources.
5 Points
5 Points
5 Points
5 Points
b. FINANCIAL CAPACITY/STABILITY Maximum of 20 Points
i. Leveraging of CDBG funds with outside
resources to finance proposed activity.
10 Points
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS
ii. Relatively stable financial position. 10 Points
c. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITY Maximum of 10 Points
i. Demonstration of organization’s readiness to
implement proposed activity.
10 Points
d. BENEFITS/BENEFICIARIES Maximum of 30 Points
i. Accessibility of activity for use by Murrieta
clients.
ii. Extent to which proposed activity benefits low
income Murrieta households.
iii. Extent to which proposed activity meets the
needs of low income residents.
10 Points
10 Points
10 Points
e. ADMINISTRATIVE SCORING Maximum of 20 Points
i. Priority Programs – Score is based on whether
or not an applicant’s program meets one of the
four priority categories.
ii. Past Subrecipients Only – Score is based on
past performance (i.e., reporting requirements
timeliness, and attainment of goals).
NOTE: New applicants will automatically
receive 5 points.
10 Points
10 Points
6) The public will also be given the opportunity to comment on the eligible proposals being considered for funding at a City Council meeting. Applicants should provide any documents that may assist the CAC and/or staff in evaluating the proposal/application prior to this interview.
7) Following the review of each eligible proposal/application, the CAC Members and/or staff will complete their evaluation of the proposal according to the criteria noted above.
Committee Members and/or staff will then submit their proposal scores for averaging. Staff will then rank and categorize the eligible proposals/applications into the following classifications:
a. Public services for the purpose of providing assistance to food banks. b. Public services for the purpose of providing general social services to adults. c. Public services for the purpose of providing social services for children/youth. d. Other eligible projects not included in public service categories. 8) It is staff’s responsibility to make a recommendation on the level of funding to be allocated to the eligible activities according to the order the proposals/applications were ranked. The process shall first consider top ranked proposals/applications and then work down the
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS
ranking prioritization, taking one proposal at a time recommending a funding level for the proposal until all available funds have been allocated to eligible activities.
The minimum funding level for each recommended activity shall be $5,000, but shall not exceed the requested funding amount.
9) The funding recommendations will be presented to the City Council for action during a public hearing. All applications submitted and the funding recommendations made will be submitted to the City Council for consideration. The City Council may accept, reject, or amend the recommendation after accepting public comments on the proposals and recommendations.