Since
1990, the BCDCOG's Community Development Department has administered
grants totaling more than $20 million dollars.
These funds have gone
toward a variety of projects in all three counties, directly helping
approximately 10,000 low-to-moderate income (LMI) residents. This does
not take into account the thousands of people, LMI and others, who have
benefited indirectly from these improvements.
While housing
rehabilitation, community center development, and capital loans are key parts
of the Community Development Block Grant Program, water and sewer
improvements are the prevalent projects in the BCD region. More than
$12 million in CDBG funds have gone through the BCDCOG this decade to improve
the region's water and sewer infrastructure.
These projects enhance the
lives of residents and enable the creation and expansion of businesses,
thereby improving the region's job market, health status, and standard of
living. In addition, the BCDCOG's Community Development Department
applies for and administers funds under various other programs such as the
Parks and Recreation Department Fund (PARD), and the HOME Investment
Partnership Act.
The Community Development
Department specializes in:
-
Informing local
governments of the availability of grants
-
Determining which
program best suites proposed projects
-
Providing technical
assistance during the application process
-
Coordinating the efforts
of necessary agencies
-
Assisting local
governments in assessing their needs
-
Developing a needs
assessment document typically required by grantors
-
Organizing and promoting
public hearings
-
Recording the activities
of hearings for inclusion in the application
-
Soliciting public
participation and support through advertisements, letters and other notices
-
Collecting, maintaining
and organizing all household data necessary to the application process
-
Supervising all phases
of the grants process, from determining eligibility to selecting the
contractors
|
|
|
Created by the SC General
Assembly in 1987, this program is intended to be used by local governments
and the SC Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism for permanent
improvements to public recreation areas. All local governments
providing parks or recreation services are eligible to apply. PARD
funds may be used for:
-
planning of park and
recreation facilities and systems
-
development of new park
and recreation facilities and infrastructure
-
renovation of existing
park and recreation facilities and infrastructure
Each county has a PARD
account. The legislative delegation of each county is charged with
reviewing all projects and completing endorsement forms for those
approved. These and the accompanying applications for funding are sent
to the SC Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism for review. All
PARD projects must be matched by their sponsoring local governments with at
least 20 percent of the total funds requested. Administration and
property acquisition are not considered adequate matches.
|
|
|
The Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) Program was initiated in 1974 to help local governments
resolve a variety of social and environmental problems through neighborhood
revitalization, economic development, and the improvement of community facilities.
All grant-funded activities must meet one of the three following objectives:
-
benefit low-and-moderate
income (LMI) persons
-
aid in the prevention or
elimination of slums and blighted areas
-
help communities
alleviate conditions that pose a serious and immediate threat to the public
health and welfare, which cannot be addressed through other financial means
The CDBG program focuses
its resources on the nation's impoverished citizens. Projects funded by
the program help these people in various ways, such as job creation, housing
improvement and educational training. Income levels are broken down
into three categories.
-
Extremely-low income =
below 30 percent of the median-family income
-
Low income = between 30
and 50 percent of median-family income
-
Moderate income =
between 50 and 80 percent of median-family income
Median-family income is
measured by Metropolitan Statistical Area, county or the entire
non-metropolitan area of the state, depending on where the proposed project
is located. Median-family income is the point in which half of all
four-member families in a given population generate more income and half
generate less.
|
|
SERVICES