That the City Council:
A. Receive public comments; and

B. Consider and approve the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Annual Action Plan for the City of La Habra Community Development Block Grant Program; and,

C. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the City of La Habra’s annual application and certifications and submit the Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its Community Development Block Grant Funding Approval/Agreement in the amount of $640,000 and $384,000 in carryover funds. Staff will proportionally adjust the amount of funding for each proposed project based on the final actual CDBG allocation. 

As an “Entitlement Grantee”, the City of La Habra (City) receives an annual allocation of federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Program. Entitlement Grantees are permitted to use CDBG funds to develop local programs geared towards low and moderate-income households in such areas as affordable housing, anti-poverty, and infrastructure development. Traditionally, the City of La Habra uses its CDBG Entitlement to assist local non-profits, housing programs, infrastructure, and City activities that comply with HUD’s national objectives to provide adequate housing, safe living environments, and the expansion of economic opportunities for low and moderate-income individuals.

The City is required to submit a 5-year Consolidated Plan (currently 2020-2024) that outlines La Habra’s overall housing and community development needs and provides a strategy to address those needs within each five-year period. Each year the City is required to submit an Annual Action Plan that outlines proposed activities for the annual allocation of CDBG grant funding and relates back to the five-year priority needs that are identified in the Consolidated Plan. Each of the Public Facility Improvement Projects proposed in the draft Action Plan are expected to be multi-year projects.  Some projects began during FY 2021-2022, while others may require future CDBG funding for completion.

For budgetary planning purposes, and consistent with past practice, the City’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Annual Action Plan is (as estimated from the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 grant allocation) $640,000, plus $384,000 of prior year carryover funds, for a total of $1,024,000. Carryover funds are CDBG proceeds that were previously allocated to approved projects, but were not spent because those projects were completed below their estimated cost.  HUD allows carryover funds to be reallocated from one year to the next for other eligible and approved projects.  Because HUD has not yet released final allocation figures for Entitlement Grantees the City does not know its final Fiscal Year 2022-2023 allocation; however, contingent on Council approval, staff will proportionally adjust the amount of funding for each approved project in the City’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Action Plan based on the final allocation of CDBG funding released by HUD later this year. Staff will not process any sub-recipient agreements until the City has received its final allocation from HUD.

The Annual Action Plan includes a participatory process that provides the public with an opportunity to provide input on the proposed allocation and use of CDBG funding.  In accordance with La Habra’s Citizen Participation Plan, the La Habra Community Services Commission (CSC) accepts public comments on funding priorities for the upcoming year. To accomplish this, the Commission conducted two public meetings, the first on January 12, 2022 when the Commission considered presentations from public services and City departments that submitted requests for CDBG funding, and the second on February 9, 2022, when the Commission made their final recommendations for funding levels for public services. 

The table below lists the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 funding recommendations for the CDBG program.  Community Development staff will proportionally adjust any approved allocations once HUD releases the final CDBG numbers for Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
 

The draft Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Annual Action Plan was made available for public review and comment for a 30-day period on March 18, 2022.  At the time of the preparation of this report, staff had not received any public comments.

The City of La Habra’s CDBG entitlement for program year 2022-2023 is estimated to be $640,000, plus $384,000 in carryover, for a total estimated amount of $1,024,000. 

LU. 2.3 Places to Work
LU. 2.5 Places Supporting the Quality of Life
LU. 17.1 Adequate Community-Supporting Uses
ED. 2.1 Business Attraction
ED. 2.2 One-Stop Business Assistance
ED. 2.3 Business Attraction-Retention
ED.7.1 Adult Health & Lifestyle Enrichment Programs
ED. 7.5 New Homebuyer Counseling
ED. 7.8 Resident Nutrition
H. 2.1 Maintain Residential Character
H. 2.3 Supportive Public Facilities
H.2.8 Rehabilitation & Home Improvement Program
H.3.2 Assistance to Prevent Housing Discrimination
H.3.5 Special Needs of the Homeless