That the City Council:
A. Receive public comments;

B. Consider and approve the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 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 $595,000. Staff will proportionally increase/decrease recommended amounts for administration and public services projects based on the increased/decreased percentage of the final 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 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 uses its CDBG entitlement funding to assist local non-profits, housing programs, infrastructure, and to help fund 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.

In order to receive this funding, HUD requires the City to submit a five-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. In addition, each year, HUD requires the City to submit an Annual Action Plan that outlines proposed activities for the annual allocation of CDBG grant funding. These funding priorities must be consistent with the five-year priority needs that are identified in the Consolidated Plan. HUD requires the approval of the Annual Action Plan be reviewed by the City Council at a public hearing so that the Council may receive public comments on the proposed Annual Action Plan.
 
HUD has not yet released final allocation figures for Entitlement Grantees. For budgetary planning purposes, and consistent with past practice, the City’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-2025 Annual Action Plan is based on the previous year's (FY2023-2024) grant allocation of $595,000. The proposed Annual Action Plan does not include the allocation of any carryover of funds from the prior year. It should be noted that, due to changes in Federal spending priorities and funding allocations, the amount of CDBG funding received by the City has steadily declined over the years. To put this in perspective, in FY2002-2003, the City received a funding allocation of $1,005,000. The currently estimated funding for next fiscal year will likely only be approximately 60 percent of what the City received two decades ago.

This year's Annual Action Plan includes one new proposed Public Facilities and Improvement Project, the Portola Park Sports & Cultural Arts Complex. Portola Park is a 10.08-acre park located at 301 South Euclid Street within a low-income census tract. The proposed CDBG funding for this project is $284,500, which includes $10,000 for prevailing wage compliance. The proposed funding would be used to ensure that the park continues to provide a safe place for families to enjoy outdoor activities. If approved, and subject to consultation with La Habra Little League, CDBG funds would be used towards the installation of park and baseball field lighting, and may also be used towards the installation of a security camera system, the redesign of less used parking areas, and/or funding for Americans with Disabilities (ADA) improvements in various areas around the park complex. These improvements would help accommodate and facilitate increased use of the park by residents of the surrounding area, especially during evening hours. It should be noted that the amount of proposed CDBG funds allocated to this project would be insufficient to complete the project, thus requiring that additional funding be secured from other sources in order to fully fund the project over time.

The preparation of the proposed Annual Action Plan includes a participatory process that gives the public an opportunity to provide input on funding priorities. In accordance with La Habra’s Citizen Participation Plan, this public input process is completed through the La Habra Community Services Commission ("Commission").  The Commission has conducted two public meetings for this purpose.  On January 10, 2024, the Commission considered presentations from public service providers and City departments that submitted requests for CDBG funding.  On February 15, 2024, the Commission made their final recommendations for funding levels for projects within the "Public Services" category; all other areas of funding are not subject to the Commission's recommendation. In addition to the public meetings before the Community Services Commission and this subject public hearing before the City Council, the draft Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Annual Action Plan was also made available for public review and comment for a 30-day period on March 15, 2024.  At the time of the preparation of this report, staff had not received any public comments. 

The table below lists the FY 2024-2025 funding recommendations for the CDBG entitlement funding based on last year's (FY 2023-2024) allocation of $595,000.  

                                        

FY 2024-2025 RECOMMENDED ACTION PLAN ALLOCATIONS
PROPOSED PROJECTS	PROPOSED ALLOCATION
Administration (Limited to 20% - $119,000)
Administration	$119,000
Total Administration	$119,000
Public Facilities & Improvements
Portola Park Sports & Cultural Arts Complex	$284,500
Total Public Facilities & Improvements	$284,500
Housing
Residential Rehabilitation Administration	$20,000
Residential Rehabilitation	$82,250
Total Housing	$102,250
Public Services (Limited to 15% - $89,250)
Community Services – Graffiti Removal	$57,000
Community Services – La Habra Community Employment Program	$13,000
Children’s Museum Sponsorship Program	$5,250
Fair Housing Foundation	$8,000
Mercy House	$6,000
Total Public Services	$89,250
TOTAL	$595,000

The City of La Habra’s anticipated CDBG entitlement funding amount for FY 2024-2025 is estimated to be a total of $595,000. If the City Council approves the recommended actions, and when HUD provides the final amount that the City will receive for FY 2024-2025, staff will increase or decrease the amount of funding for Administration (limited to 20% of the final amount) and Public Services (limited to 15% of the final amount) on a proportional percentage basis, as described in this report. The approval of the Annual Action Plan will have no adverse impact on the City's General Fund.