R990-11-4. Responsibilities of Grantee, Regions and State

(1) Grantee Responsibilities

(a) Grantees are allowed to take up to 10% of the contract amount for administration purposes. Administrative cost must be broken out from the rest of the project costs when the application and contract budget are prepared.

(b) The formal contract with the state must include an environmental review, federal labor standards and civil rights.

(2) Regional Responsibilities.

(a) Prioritization - Each RRC shall rate and rank all applications based on a set of criteria available to the public for comment.

(b) Public participation - Each RRC is required to hold at least one public hearing yearly to assist applicants and obtain comments and suggestions regarding the CDBG process.

(c) Application completion - Each RRC has the responsibility to assure that applications are completed in full prior to submission to the state.

(d) Administrative Capacity - The RRC will assess the ability of each applicant to administer a CDBG grant.

(3) State Responsibilities.

(a) Public Participation - The state is required to hold at least one public hearing yearly to notify the public, explain the community development program and to receive comments.

(b) Review of Applications - Upon receipt of the CDBG prioritized applications from the regions, the state staff shall begin a review process.

(c) Timely Distribution of Funds - The state is required by HUD to ensure that CDBG funds are allocated and distributed in a timely manner.

(i) Application - Each applicant shall make their final application decision prior to submitting it to the RRC.

(A) Contracts will be sent out in April and Grantees will have until June 1, to sign and return all copies of the contract to the Housing and Community Development Division (HCD) of the Department of Workforce Services.

(B) On a case by case basis, RRCs may allow a one month extension to grantees experiencing unavoidable delays. Grantees must notify their RRC prior to the deadline;

(C) Funds from all contracts not returned to HCD by July 1, will be returned to the appropriate RRC for reallocation;

(D) Any funds not reallocated by the RRC by August 1, will be returned to the State. The State will reallocate the funds to an approved project;

Grantees may not delay the processing of the current application based on the possibility of receiving an allocation in the following year.

(d) Five Percent Withholding - The state reserves the right to withhold five percent of the CDBG grant amount pending a satisfactory final programmatic financial monitoring review of all projects.

(e) Cost Overruns - The state may authorize the funding of project cost overruns requested by the RRC.

(f) Fund Leveraging - One of the state's roles in the CDBG funding process is to provide assistance to grantees in leveraging other available financial resources.

(g) Program Monitoring - During the course of each CDBG contract the state must monitor all grantees.

(h) Grant Close Out - A grant close out packet will be submitted to the state at the completion of each CDBG-funded activity.