R990-8-3. Application Requirements

  A. Applicants shall submit their funding requests on the Board's most current application form, furnished by the Housing and Community Development Division (HCD). Applicants submitting incomplete applications will be notified of deficiencies and their request for funding assistance will be held by the Board's staff pending submission of the required information by the applicant.

  Complete applications which have been accepted for processing will be placed one of the Trimester's upcoming "Application Review Meeting" agendas.

  B. Additional general information not specifically covered by the application form should also be furnished to the Board and its staff when such information would be helpful to the Board in appraising the merits of the project.

  C. For proposed drinking water and sewer projects, sufficient technical information must be provided to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to permit their review. The Board will not act on any drinking water or sewer project unless they receive such review from DEQ.

  D. Planning grants and studies normally require a fifty percent cash contribution by the applicant. Planning assistance requests shall be reviewed and/or provided by the Rural Planning Group.

  E. The Board requires all applicants to have a vigorous public participation effort. All applicants shall hold at least one formal public hearing to solicit comment concerning the size, scope and nature of any funding request prior to its submission to the Board. In that public hearing, the public shall be advised the financing may be in the form of a loan, even if the application requests a grant.

  Complete and detailed information shall be given to the public regarding the proposed project and its financing. The information shall include the expected financial impact including potential repayment terms and the costs to the public as user fees, special assessments, or property taxes if the financing is in the form of a loan. The Board may require additional public hearings if determines the applicant did not adequately disclose to the public the impact of the financial assistance during the initial public hearing.

  When the Board offers the applicant a financial package that is substantially different in the amounts, terms or conditions initially requested by an applicant, the Board may require additional public hearings to solicit public comment on the modified funding package.

  A copy of the public notice and transcript or minutes of the hearing shall be attached to the funding request. Public opinion polls may be submitted in addition to the transcript or minutes.

  F. Letters of comment outlining specific benefits (or problems) to the community and State may be submitted with the application.

  G. All applicants are required to notify in writing the applicable Association of Governments of their intention to submit a funding request to the Board. A copy of any comments made by the Association of Governments shall be attached to the funding request. It is the intent of the Board to encourage regional review and prioritization of funding requests to help ensure the timely consideration of all worthwhile projects.

  H. Section 9-8-404 requires all state agencies before they expend any state funds or approves any undertaking to take into account the effect of the undertaking on any district, site, building structure or specimen that is included in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or the State Register and to allow the state historic preservation officer (SHPO) a reasonable opportunity to comment on the undertaking or expenditure. In order to comply with that duty, the Board requires all applicants provide the Board's staff with a detailed description of the proposed project attached to the application. The Board's staff will provide SHPO with descriptions of applications which may have potential historic preservation concerns for SHPO's review and comment in compliance with the CIB/SHPO Programmatic Agreement. SHPO comments on individual applications will be provided to the Board as part of the review process outline in R990-8-4. Additionally the Board requires that if during the construction of the project the applicant discovers any cultural/paleontological resources, the applicant shall cease project activities which may affect or impact the cultural/paleontological resource, notify the Board and SHPO of the discovery, allow the Board to take into account the effects of the project on cultural/paleontological resources, and not proceed until further approval is given by the Board.

  I. All applicants must provide evidence and arguments to the Board as to how the proposed funding assistance provides for planning, the construction and maintenance of public facilities or the provision of public services.

  J. All applicants must demonstrate that the facilities or services provided will be available and open to the general public and that the proposed funding assistance is not merely a device to pass along low interest government financing to the private sector.

  K. All applicants must demonstrate that any arrangement with a lessee of the proposed project will constitute a true lease, and not a disguised financing arrangement. The lessee must be required to pay a reasonable market rental for the use of the facility. In addition, the applicant shall have no arrangement with the lessee to sell the facility to the lessee, unless fair market value is received.

  L. Each applicant must submit evidence and legal opinion that it has the authority to construct, own and lease the proposed project. In the case of a request for an interest bearing loan, the applicant must provide an opinion of nationally-recognized bond counsel that the interest will not be subject to federal income taxes.

  M. All applicants shall certify to the Board that they will comply with the provisions of Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 USC 2000e), as amended, which prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment or any applicant or recipient of services, on the basis of race, religion, color, or national origin; and further agree to abide by Executive Order No. 11246, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; 45 CFR 90, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and 28 CFR 35, as amended, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disabilities; Utah Anti-Discrimination Act, Section 34A-5-101 et seq., which prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, or handicap, and to certify compliance with the ADA to the Board on an annual basis and upon completion of the project.