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Res No 107-23-16040
RESOL UTION NO. 107-23-16040 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE CITY'S ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE AND THE EXECUTION OF THE URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG ) AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025, AND 2026; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO E XECUTE THE AGREEMENT; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION , CORRECTIONS AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Ho u s ing and Community De ve lo pme nt A c t o f 19 74 requires th at every three (3) yea rs , all urba n coun t ies p a rti c ip a tin g in th e Community Deve lo pm e nt Bl ock Gra nt (C DBG) prog ram, unde r go th e De partme nt of Hous ing a nd Urban Deve lo pm e n t's (HUD) Urba n Co unty Qua lificatio n p rocess ; a nd WHEREAS, t he p rocess inv o lves counti es workin g w ith uni ts o f gene ral local gove rnme nts e li g ibl e to pa rti c ip a te ; a nd WHEREAS, Mi a mi-Dade C o unty (MD C ) is currentl y qualified a s a n urb a n coun ty a nd is sc hedul ed to requ a lify fo r the pe ri od tha t begin s Janua ry I , 2 0 2 4 , a nd e nd s D ecembe r 3 1, 2026; a nd WHEREAS, th e C ity o f South Mi a mi (C ity ) has the o ppo rtunity to j o in MDC 's urba n jurisdi ctio n o r o pt-o ut; and WHEREAS, t he C ity d es ires to o p t-in a nd e lects to pa rt ic ipate in th e MD C CDBG and Ho m e Inv estment Pa rtne r ships Prog ram fund s for fi scal years 2024, 2025 , a nd 202 6 as a parti c ipatin g munic ipa li ty in MDC 's juris di ctio n; a nd Page I o f3 Res. No. 107-23-16040 WHEREAS, an election to participate requires the execution by the City of the Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreement for the MDC CDBG and Home Investment Partnership Funds for Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, and 2026 with the MDC (the "Agreement"), in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A"; and WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that participation in the CDBG programs as a participating municipality in MDC' s jurisdiction and execution of the Agreement, in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A", are in the best interests of the City. WHEREAS, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Recitals. The above-stated recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein by this reference. Section 2. Election to Participate; Authorization. The City hereby elects to participate in the CDBG programs as a participating municipality in MDC's jurisdiction, and the City Manager is authorized to negotiate and execute the Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreement for the MDC CDBG and Home Investment Partnership Funds for Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, and 2026 with the MDC, in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A," subject to the approval by the City Attorney as to form, content, and legal sufficiency. The City Manager is further authorized to enter into any subsequent amendments, extensions, renewals, or related documents necessary to implement the Agreement, subject to the approval by the City Attorney as to form, content, and legal sufficiency. Section 3. Implementation. The City Manager is authorized to take any and all actions necessary to implement the Agreement and the purposes of this Resolution. Page 2 of3 Res. No. I 07-23-16040 Section 4. Corrections. Conforming language or techn ical scriv e ner-type corrections may be made by the City Attorney for any conforming a mendments to be incorporated into the final resolution for s ignature. Section 5. Effective Date. This Resoluti o n shall become effective imme di a tel y upo n adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED thi s~ day of September, 2023. A TTEST: READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM , LANGUAGE, LEGA LITY AND EXECUT ION THEREOF OL- WEISS SEROTA H E LFMAN COLE & BIERMAN, P.L. C ITY ATTORNEY APPROVED: COMM ISS ION VOTE: Mayor Fernandez: Vice Mayor Bonich: Commi ss io n e r Call e: Commi ss io ner Liebman: Commi ss io n e r Corey: Page 3 o f3 5 -0 Yea Yea Yea Y ea Yea Agenda Item No:10. City Commission Agenda Item Report Meeting Date: September 5, 2023 Submitted by: Samantha Fraga-Lopez Submitting Department: City Manager Item Type: Resolution Agenda Section: Subject: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE CITY'S ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE AND THE EXECUTION OF THE URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025, AND 2026; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, CORRECTIONS AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 3/5 (CITY MANAGER) Suggested Action: Attachments: Memo CDBG.docx 4767198-Reso Approving Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreement for MDC CDBG and Home Invetsment Partnership Funds CAv2.DOCX City of South Miami Agreement.docx Aerial map - South Miami area as Urban County CDBG grantee.JPG Notice CPD-23-02_ Instructions for Urban County Qualification for Participation in the CDBG Program for FYs 2024-2026.pdf Notice CPD-23-02_ Instructions for Urban County Qualification for Participation in the CDBG Program for FYs 2024-2026.pdf City of South Miami.pdf MDBR Ad.pdf MH Ad.pdf 1 , Memorandum a.;all Date: To: From: September 11, 2023 Morris Copeland, Chief Community Services Officer Office of the Mayor Alex R. Ballina, Director Public Housing and Community Development Subject: Urban Qualification Cooperative Agreements for Execution Attached are five Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreements for program years 2024 -2026 between Miami-Dade County and the following municipalities for execution : • City of Sunny Isles Beach • • City of Hialeah Gardens • Village of Biscayne Park • City of South Miami • City of Doral As opposed to amendments, Miami-Dade County is requesting that new agreements be signed by each city . HUD requires that every three years , all urban counties that participate in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships programs (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) undergo HUD's Urban County Qualification process . This process involves counties working with eligible units of general local government (i.e . municipalities which are not entitled to receive their own federal or state entitlements). PHCD has requested that the municipalities expedite the execution of the amendments in order to meet the September 15, 2023 deadline for requalification as an Urban County. We will be advising HUD of the same. Attachment ~~©~□W ,~ ~tl l SEP 1 1 1013 ~ MIAM I-DA DE COU NTY OF FICE OF THE MAYO R Resolution Number#_ 1058-11 ____ _ Awarded Amount$ _______ _ URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025 AND 2026 BETWEEN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI This Agreement (hereinafter referred to as nAgreement" or "Contracr), by and between Miami-Dade County, a polltlcal subdivision of the State of Florida through its Department of Public Housing and Community Development hereinafter referred to as "PHCD" and having its principal offices at 701 N.W. 151 Court, 14th Floor, Miami, Florida 33136, hereinafter referred to as "County", and the CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, hereinafter referred to as "City" and having offices at 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, Florida 33143 and telephone number of (305) 663-6340, collectively referred to as the "Parties•, states, conditions and covenants for the participation of City in the Community Development Block Grant, Home Investment Partnerships and Emergency Shelter Grant programs, whfch are administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (11 HUD 11 ), as part of the County's jurisdiction. WHEREAS, the Home Rule Charter authorizes Miami-Dade County to provide for the uniform health and welfare of the residents throughout the County; and WHEREAS, the Community Development Block Grant c■CDBG") Program is authorized by the Housing and Community Deveropment Act of 197 4, as amended, with the primary objective of promoting and deveropment of viable urban communities. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 570; and WHEREAS, the Home Investment Partnerships program (11 HOME11 ) is authorized under Title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, as amended. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 92;and WHEREAS, the Emergency Shelter Grant ("ESG") program Is authorized by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 576. WHEREAS, the CDBG, HOME and ESG programs shall collectively be referred to as the "Federal Funds"; and WHEREAS, the City desires to participate in the CDBG, HOME and ESG programs as a participating municipality in the County's jurisdiction; and ' WHEREAS, the County is desirous of the City participating in the CDBG, HOME and ESG programs as part of the County's Entitlement Jurisdiction; and WHEREAS, it is mutually beneficial to each of the Parties hereto for the County to administer and execute the provisions of this Agreement in accordance with the terms an~ conditions hereinafter provided and subject to local ordinances and state and federal law; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has indicated that the County and City may cooperate as an Urban County Joint Entitlement Recipient in administration of CDBG, HOME and ESG; and WHEREAS, County and City are required to execute a cooperation agreement, or renew an existing cooperation agreement, for the City's participation in the County's jurisdiction for Federal Funds for each three-year qualificatfon period ("Qualification Period0); and WHEREAS, the governing bodies of the County and the City have authorized the execution of this Agreement by the Chief Executive Officer of the County and City, respectively; and WHEREAS, this Agreement shall be accompanied by a legal opinion from the County's counsel that the terms and provisions of this Agreement are fully authorized under State and local law and that the Agreement provides full legal authority for the County; and WHEREAS, the County intends to further include within the Urban County the City, NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS: 1. The City, by executing this Agreement, agrees that: a. City may receive an allocation under the CDBG and HOME Programs through the County's Request for Application Process. If the County does not receive a HOME formula allocatlon, City cannot form a HOME consortium with other local governments. (Note: this does not preclude the County or the City from applying for State HOME funds if the State allows.); and b. City may not apply for grants from appropriations under the State CDBG Program for the fiscal years City participates in the County's CDBG program; and c. City may receive an allocation under the ESG program only through the County, However, City may apply to the State for ESG funds, If the State allows. 2. This Agreement shall cover the County Qualification Period for Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, and 2026 for which the County is to qualify to receive Federal Funds. This Agreement shall remain in effect until the CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) funds and program Income received (with respect to activities carried out during the three-year qualification period and any successive qualification periods pursuant to automatic renewal of this Agreement) are expended and the funded activities completed, and the County and the City cannot terminate or withdraw from this Agreement while the Agreement remains In effecl 3. This Agreement may be automatically renewed for successive three-year Qualification periods at · the discretion of the County unless the County or the City provides written notice that it elects not to extend City's participation for the new Qualification Period. The City and County agree that a copy of such notice shall be timely sent to the HUD Field Office. 4. By the date specified in the HUD's Urban County Qualification Notice for each Qualification Period, the County will notify the City In writing of its right not to participate. A copy of the County's notification to City shall be sent to the HUD Field Office by the date specified in the Urban County Qualification schedule located in any applicable Urban County Qualification Notice for a Qualification Period. 5. The Parties agree that they will timely execute any amendments to the Agreement necessary to comply with the requirements for cooperatlon agreements, including those for automatic renewals, set forth in the current Urban County Qualification Notice, attached as Exhibit A, or future urban county qualification notices from .HUD for the current or any future Qualification Period. The Parties further agree that-any amendment so executed will be timely submitted to HUD as required by the Urban County Qualification CPD Notice 23-02, issued on April 10, 2023 and expiring on April 10, 2024. Failure to comply with the requirements of this section may cause the County to void the automatic renewal for the applicable qualification period. 6. The County and City agree to cooperate to undertake, or assist in undertaking, community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. 2 7. The County and City shall take all actions necessary to assure compliance with the County's certification under section 104(b) of Title I of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1974, as amended, that the grant will be conducted and administered in conformity with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 1, and the Fair Housing Act, and the Implementing regulations at 24 CFR Part 100, and will affirmatively further fair housing. The County and City shall comply with section 109 of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 6, which incorporates Section 504 of the Rehabllitatlon Act of 1973, and the Implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 8, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the implementing regulations at 28 CFR part 35, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the implementing regulation at 24 CFR part 146, and Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, and other applicable laws. The County and City are obligated to sign the assurances and certifications in HUD-424-B. 8. Under no circumstances shall the Federal Funds be used for activities in, or in support of, any participating municipality, including City, that does not affirmatively further fair housing within its own Jurisdiction or that impedes the County's actions to comply with the County's fair housing certification. 9.. The City acknowledges that the County has final responsibility and authority for selecting CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) activities and submitting the Consolidated Plan to HUD. The City agrees that during the term of this Agreement, the City will fully support the Implementation of the County's Consolidated Plan and any amendments. 1 O. The City affirms that It has adopted and Is enforcing: a. A policy prohibiting the use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies within its jurisdiction against any individuals engaged in non-violent civil rights demonstrations; and b. A policy of enforcing applicable State and local laws against physically barring entrance to or exit from a facility or location which is the subject of such non-violent civil rights demonstration within the City. 11. Pursuant to 24 CFR 570.501 (b), the City is subject to the same requirements applicable to subrecipients, Including the requirement of a written agreement as described In 24 CFR 570.503. 12. The County shall take the final responsibility and assume all the obligation of application for assistance under the provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and subsequent amendments, including the analysis of needs, the setting of objectives, the development of the HUD Consolidated Plan and Action Plans, and any other documents, assurances, or certificates as required by HUD, subject to change in legislation or _regulations. 13-. Funds for housing and community development activities shall be expended in a manner to reflect the needs of low to moderate-income groups pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act 1974, as amended. 14. All records of the County or City related to this Agreement and any projects undertaken pursuant thereto shall, upon reasonable notice, be available for inspection by HUD, County and/or City auditors during the normal business hours. 15. This agreement shall be binding upon the Parties hereto and their successors and assigns. 16. The City and the County acknowledge that It may be necessary to dispose of real property that was originally acquired or Improved In whole or in part using Federal Funds. The City agrees that it shall notify the County within thirty (30) days regarding any proposed modification or change in the use of real property form that planned at the time of acquisition or improvement, Including disposition. 3 17. 18. The City acknowledges that federal regulations may require a public hearing or other process prior to modifying. changing the use or disposing of such real property. Indemnification. The County shall not assume any liability for the acts, omissions to act or negligence of the City, its agent, servants, or employees; nor shall the City exclude liability for Its own acts, omissions to act, or negligence arising out of the City's performance pursuant to this Agreement. The City shall Indemnify and hold harmless the County and its officers, employees and agents or instrumentalities from any and all liabilities, losses or damages, agents or of any kind nature arising out of, relating or resulting from performance of this Agreement by the Awardee shall pay all claims and losses in connection therewith and shall investigate and defend all claims, suits or actions of any kind of nature In the name of the County, where applicable, including appellate proceedings, and shall pay all cost, judgments, and attorney's fees which may Issue thereon. The City expressly understands and agrees that any insurance protection required by this agreement or otherwise provided by the Awardee shall in no way limit the responsibility to indemnify, keep and save harmless and defend the County or Its officers, employees, agents and instrumentalities as herein provided. Nothing herein is indented to serve as a waiver of sovereign immunity by the County nor shall anything herein be construed as consent by the County to be sued by third parties in any matter arising out of this Agreement. The provisions of this section survive the termination of expiration of this Agreement. The County and City agree that neither the County nor the City shall sell, trade, or otherwise transfer all or any such portion of the Federal Funds to another metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local government, or Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or indirectly receives CDBG funds in exchange for any other funds, credits or non-Federal considerations, but must use such funds for activities eligible under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. 4 IN WITNESS THEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this five _(5) page contract to be executed by their undersigned officials as dul authorized, this I~ :f l.. day ot5yt e-r1 '1!~ 2023. AWARDEE: • CITY OF soy H MIAMI BY: __ ....!ll:~,,,,_-.... ~=:.__JI-- MIAMI-DADE COUNTY-~ BY mL ~ . NAME: ~.x....:..::.1-=--=--=~~;.s:__:f ~:....-~ NAME: t--i o (Y 1 .s Ctrpe l arJ TITLE: City Manager TITLE : Chief Community Services Officer DATE: DATE: NAME: Melissa Gallo TITLE: Assistant County Attorney DATE: qr 'v\-2-,,'°:) Print N am e: Date: An~Lavadle • e30075! Passed, Adopted and approved this ~ day o~023 ATTEST BY: ~t (~~re) Typ or Print Na City Clerk CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI: Mayor APPROVu:: BY: L- City Attorney AGREEMENT IS NOT VALID UNTIL SIGNED BY ALL PARTIES 5 i -see a-\\-QL~eA. , ~\\.)t\C)(\ G\.1'0 C.,~ Mo.\"\4~(1"" ':,\tf'Cff-u-€ ) "\.;,eve RESOLUTION NO. 107-23-16040 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE CITY'S ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE AND THE EXECUTION OF THE URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025, AND 2026; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, CORRECTIONS AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 requires that every three (3) years, all urban counties participating in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, undergo the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Urban County Qualification process; and WHEREAS, the process involves counties working with units of general local governments eligible to participate; and WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County (MDC) is currently qualified as an urban county and is scheduled to requalify for the period that begins January I, 2024, and ends December 31, 20~6; and WHEREAS, the City of South Miami (City) has the opportunity to join MDC's urban jurisdiction or opt-out; and WHEREAS, the City desires to opt-in and elects to participate in the MDC CDBG and Home Investment Partnerships Program funds for fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026 as a participating municipality in MDC's jurisdiction; and Page I of3 Res. No. l 07-23-16040 WHEREAS, an election to participate requires the execution by the City of the Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreement for the MDC CDBG and Home Investment Partnership Funds for Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, and 2026 with the MDC (the "Agreement"), in substantially the fonn attached hereto as Exhibit "A"; and WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that participation in the COBO programs as a participating municipality in MDC's jurisdiction and execution of the Agreement, in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A'', are in the best interests of the City. WHEREAS,NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: Section l. Recitals. The above-stated recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein by this reference. Section 2. Election to Participate; Authorization. The City hereby elects to participate in the COBO programs as a participating municipality in MDC's jurisdiction, and the City Manager is authorized to negotiate and execute the Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreement for the MDC COBO and Home Investment Partnership Funds for Fiscal Years 2024, 202S, and 2026 with the MDC, in substantially the fonn attached hereto as Exhibit" A," subject to the approval by the City Attorney as to fonn, content, and legal sufficiency. The City Manager is further authorized to enter into any subsequent amendments, extensions, renewals, or related documents necessary to implement the Agreement, subject to the approval by the City Attorney as to fonn, content, and legal sufficiency. Section 3. Implementation. The City Manager is authorized to take any and all actions necessary to implement the Agreement and the purposes of this Resolution. Page2of3 Res. No. I 07-23-16040 Section 4. Corrections. Con'lorming 1.mguage or technical scrivener-type corrections may be mad1: by Lhe Cily Attorney for any conforming amendments to b1: incorporated into the linal resolution for signature . Section 5. Effective Date. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 5111 da) of' September. :.023. ATTEST: CIT lk:LERK ~ I ' READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM. LANGUAGE. LEGALITY AND EXECUTION THEREOF OL- WEISS SEROTA HELFl\•1/\N COLE & BIERMAN. P.L. CITY ATTORNEY APPROVED: MAYOR COMMISSION VOTE: Mayor Fernandez: Vice l'vlayor Bonich: Commissioner Calle: Commissioner Liebman: Co111missi9ncr Corey: Page J ol'J 5-0 Yea Yea Yea Yea Yea CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO:The Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Members of the City Commission FROM:Genaro “Chip” Iglesias,City Manager DATE:September 5, 2023 SUBJECT:Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Agreement with Miami-Dade County (MDC) RECOMMENDATION: Staff is recommending approval of the CDBG Agreement with MDC. BACKGROUND: The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 requires that every three (3) years, all urban counties participating in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, undergo the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Urban County Qualification process.The process involves counties working with units of general local governments eligible to participate. Miami-Dade County (MDC) is currently qualified as an urban county and is scheduled to requalify for the period that begins January 1, 2024, and ends December 31, 2026. The City of South Miami (City) has the opportunity to join the County’s urban jurisdiction and would like to opt-in. The City has benefited from CDBG funds for the Senior Meals Program from 2018-2023, Marshall Williamson Park Improvements, Brewer Park Improvements, and Gibson Bethel Community Center Rehabilitation. ATTACHMENTS: Resolution Proposed Agreement Letter from MDC 2 1 Resolution Number #__1058-11____________ Awarded Amount $ ___________________ URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025 AND 2026 BETWEEN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI This Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “Agreement” or “Contract”), by and between Miami-Dade County, a political subdivision of the State of Florida through its Department of Public Housing and Community Development hereinafter referred to as “PHCD” and having its principal offices at 701 N.W. 1st Court, 14th Floor, Miami, Florida 33136, hereinafter referred to as “County”, and the CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, hereinafter referred to as “City” and having offices at 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, Florida 33143 and telephone number of (305) 663-6340, collectively referred to as the “Parties”, states, conditions and covenants for the participation of City in the Community Development Block Grant, Home Investment Partnerships and Emergency Shelter Grant programs, which are administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), as part of the County’s jurisdiction. WHEREAS, the Home Rule Charter authorizes Miami-Dade County to provide for the uniform health and welfare of the residents throughout the County; and WHEREAS, the Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) Program is authorized by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, with the primary objective of promoting and development of viable urban communities. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 570; and WHEREAS, the Home Investment Partnerships program (“HOME”) is authorized under Title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, as amended. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 92; and WHEREAS, the Emergency Shelter Grant (“ESG”) program is authorized by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 576. WHEREAS, the CDBG, HOME and ESG programs shall collectively be referred to as the “Federal Funds”; and WHEREAS, the City desires to participate in the CDBG, HOME and ESG programs as a participating municipality in the County’s jurisdiction; and WHEREAS, the County is desirous of the City participating in the CDBG, HOME and ESG programs as part of the County’s Entitlement jurisdiction; and WHEREAS, it is mutually beneficial to each of the Parties hereto for the County to administer and execute the provisions of this Agreement in accordance with the terms and conditions hereinafter provided and subject to local ordinances and state and federal law; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has indicated that the County and City may cooperate as an Urban County Joint Entitlement Recipient in administration of CDBG, HOME and ESG; and 6 2 WHEREAS, County and City are required to execute a cooperation agreement, or renew an existing cooperation agreement, for the City’s participation in the County’s jurisdiction for Federal Funds for each three-year qualification period (“Qualification Period”); and WHEREAS, the governing bodies of the County and the City have authorized the execution of this Agreement by the Chief Executive Officer of the County and City, respectively; and WHEREAS, this Agreement shall be accompanied by a legal opinion from the County’s counsel that the terms and provisions of this Agreement are fully authorized under State and local law and that the Agreement provides full legal authority for the County; and WHEREAS, the County intends to further include within the Urban County the City, NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS: 1.The City, by executing this Agreement, agrees that: a. City may receive an allocation under the CDBG and HOME Programs through the County’s Request for Application Process. If the County does not receive a HOME formula allocation, City cannot form a HOME consortium with other local governments. (Note: this does not preclude the County or the City from applying for State HOME funds if the State allows.); and b. City may not apply for grants from appropriations under the State CDBG Program for the fiscal years City participates in the County’s CDBG program; and c.City may receive an allocation under the ESG program only through the County, However, City may apply to the State for ESG funds, if the State allows. 2.This Agreement shall cover the County Qualification Period for Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, and 2026 for which the County is to qualify to receive Federal Funds. This Agreement shall remain in effect until the CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) funds and program income received (with respect to activities carried out during the three-year qualification period and any successive qualification periods pursuant to automatic renewal of this Agreement) are expended and the funded activities completed, and the County and the City cannot terminate or withdraw from this Agreement while the Agreement remains in effect. 3.This Agreement may be automatically renewed for successive three-year Qualification periods at the discretion of the County unless the County or the City provides written notice that it elects not to extend City’s participation for the new Qualification Period. The City and County agree that a copy of such notice shall be timely sent to the HUD Field Office. 4.By the date specified in the HUD’s Urban County Qualification Notice for each Qualification Period, the County will notify the City in writing of its right not to participate. A copy of the County’s notification to City shall be sent to the HUD Field Office by the date specified in the Urban County Qualification schedule located in any applicable Urban County Qualification Notice for a Qualification Period. 5.The Parties agree that they will timely execute any amendments to the Agreement necessary to comply with the requirements for cooperation agreements, including those for automatic renewals, set forth in the current Urban County Qualification Notice, attached as Exhibit A, or future urban county qualification notices from HUD for the current or any future Qualification Period. The Parties further agree that any amendment so executed will be timely submitted to HUD as required by the Urban County Qualification CPD Notice 23-02, issued on April 10, 2023 and expiring on April 10, 2024. Failure to comply with the requirements of this section may cause the County to void the automatic renewal for the applicable qualification period. 6.The County and City agree to cooperate to undertake, or assist in undertaking, community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. 7 3 7. The County and City shall take all actions necessary to assure compliance with the County’s certification under section 104(b) of Title I of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1974, as amended, that the grant will be conducted and administered in conformity with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 1, and the Fair Housing Act, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR Part 100, and will affirmatively further fair housing. The County and City shall comply with section 109 of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 6, which incorporates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 8, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the implementing regulations at 28 CFR part 35, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the implementing regulation at 24 CFR part 146, and Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, and other applicable laws. The County and City are obligated to sign the assurances and certifications in HUD-424-B. 8.Under no circumstances shall the Federal Funds be used for activities in, or in support of, any participating municipality, including City, that does not affirmatively further fair housing within its own jurisdiction or that impedes the County’s actions to comply with the County’s fair housing certification. 9.The City acknowledges that the County has final responsibility and authority for selecting CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) activities and submitting the Consolidated Plan to HUD. The City agrees that during the term of this Agreement, the City will fully support the implementation of the County’s Consolidated Plan and any amendments. 10.The City affirms that it has adopted and is enforcing: a.A policy prohibiting the use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies within its jurisdiction against any individuals engaged in non-violent civil rights demonstrations; and b.A policy of enforcing applicable State and local laws against physically barring entrance to or exit from a facility or location which is the subject of such non-violent civil rights demonstration within the City. 11.Pursuant to 24 CFR 570.501(b), the City is subject to the same requirements applicable to subrecipients, including the requirement of a written agreement as described in 24 CFR 570.503. 12.The County shall take the final responsibility and assume all the obligation of application for assistance under the provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and subsequent amendments, including the analysis of needs, the setting of objectives, the development of the HUD Consolidated Plan and Action Plans, and any other documents, assurances, or certificates as required by HUD, subject to change in legislation or regulations. 13.Funds for housing and community development activities shall be expended in a manner to reflect the needs of low to moderate-income groups pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act 1974, as amended. 14.All records of the County or City related to this Agreement and any projects undertaken pursuant thereto shall, upon reasonable notice, be available for inspection by HUD, County and/or City auditors during the normal business hours. 15.This agreement shall be binding upon the Parties hereto and their successors and assigns. 16.The City and the County acknowledge that it may be necessary to dispose of real property that was originally acquired or improved in whole or in part using Federal Funds. The City agrees that it shall notify the County within thirty (30) days regarding any proposed modification or change in the use of real property form that planned at the time of acquisition or improvement, including disposition. 8 4 The City acknowledges that federal regulations may require a public hearing or other process prior to modifying, changing the use or disposing of such real property. 17. Indemnification. The County shall not assume any liability for the acts, omissions to act or negligence of the City, its agent, servants, or employees; nor shall the City exclude liability for its own acts, omissions to act, or negligence arising out of the City’s performance pursuant to this Agreement. The City shall indemnify and hold harmless the County and its officers, employees and agents or instrumentalities from any and all liabilities, losses or damages, agents or of any kind nature arising out of, relating or resulting from performance of this Agreement by the Awardee shall pay all claims and losses in connection therewith and shall investigate and defend all claims, suits or actions of any kind of nature in the name of the County, where applicable, including appellate proceedings, and shall pay all cost, judgments, and attorney’s fees which may issue thereon. The City expressly understands and agrees that any insurance protection required by this agreement or otherwise provided by the Awardee shall in no way limit the responsibility to indemnify, keep and save harmless and defend the County or its officers, employees, agents and instrumentalities as herein provided. Nothing herein is indented to serve as a waiver of sovereign immunity by the County nor shall anything herein be construed as consent by the County to be sued by third parties in any matter arising out of this Agreement. The provisions of this section survive the termination of expiration of this Agreement. 18. The County and City agree that neither the County nor the City shall sell, trade, or otherwise transfer all or any such portion of the Federal Funds to another metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local government, or Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or indirectly receives CDBG funds in exchange for any other funds, credits or non-Federal considerations, but must use such funds for activities eligible under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. 9 5 IN WITNESS THEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this five (5) page contract to be executed by their undersigned officials as duly authorized, this __________ day of __________ 2023. AWARDEE:MIAMI-DADE COUNTY CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI BY:___________________________BY: _________________________ NAME: _____________________NAME: ________ TITLE: City Manager_____________________TITLE: Chief Community Services Officer__ DATE: _______________________DATE: _______________________ APPROVED AS TO FORM:ATTEST: BY:____________________________ NAME: _Melissa Gallo ________Juan Fernandez-Barquin CLERK OF THE COURT AND COMPTROLLER BY: ____________________________ TITLE: Assistant County Attorney_______DEPUTY CLERK DATE: ____________________________ Passed, Adopted and approved this ______ day of ______2023 ATTEST BY: _________________________ (Signature) CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI: _________________________ _____________Mayor Type or Print Name City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: BY: ____________________________ City Attorney AGREEMENT IS NOT VALID UNTIL SIGNED BY ALL PARTIES 10 11 -------o--' ------.... -....-.... ·---!§:.: ·-.::::< • . ' U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Planning and Development Special Attention of: All Regional Administrators All CPD Division Directors All CDBG Grantees Notice: CPD-23-02 Issued: April 10, 2023 Expires: April 10, 2024 Supersedes: CPD Notice 22-07 SUBJECT: Instructions for Urban County Qualification for Participation in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2024-2026 INTRODUCTION This Notice establishes requirements, procedures, and deadlines to be followed in the urban county qualification process for FYs 2024-2026. Information concerning specific considerations and responsibilities for urban counties is also provided. HUD Field Offices and urban counties are expected to adhere to the deadlines in this Notice. This Notice provides guidance for counties wishing to qualify or requalify for entitlement status as urban counties, as well as for existing urban counties that wish to include previously nonparticipating communities. Please send copies of this Notice to all presently qualified urban counties, to each county that can qualify for the first time or requalify for FYs 2024- 2026, and to each state administering the State CDBG program which includes a potentially eligible urban county. If HUD Field Offices are notified later than the date of this Notice of one or more new potential urban counties, each should be provided a copy of this Notice. This Notice includes the following seven attachments, lettered A-G, that contain listings of: Attachment A, all currently qualified urban counties; Attachment B, counties that requalify this qualification period (2024-2026); Attachment C, counties scheduled to qualify or requalify in FY 2024 for FY 2025-2027; Attachment D, counties scheduled to qualify or requalify in FY 2025 for FY 2026-2028; Attachment E, currently qualified urban counties that can add nonparticipating units of government for the remaining one or two years of their qualification period; Attachment F, counties that may qualify as urban counties if metropolitan cities relinquish their status; and Attachment G, counties previously identified as eligible but that have not accepted urban county status. Additions to Attachment B may be provided separately, should any counties be identified as potentially eligible for the first time in July 2023. 12 The schedule for qualifying urban counties is coordinated with qualifying HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) consortia to be able to operate both the CDBG and HOME programs using the same urban county configurations. The CDBG urban county qualification process for the FY 2024-2026 qualification period will start in March 2023 and run through September 15, 2023. This will provide HUD sufficient time before the September 30th deadline for FY 2024 funding under the HOME Program to notify counties that they qualify as urban counties under the CDBG Program. This Notice emphasizes the importance of completing all the steps of the urban county qualification/ requalification process by mid-September to ensure that there is no detrimental effect on the HOME consortia qualification/requalification process. Urban county worksheets will be accessible via Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) Grants Management Process (GMP) system. The CPD Systems Development and Evaluation Division will provide GMP system guidance for submitting urban county qualification data. Section V.H., second paragraph, regarding Cooperation Agreements clearly delineates the fair housing and civil rights obligations to which urban counties and participating jurisdictions are subject. By this time, all existing urban counties should have incorporated the required language in their cooperation agreements regarding fair housing and civil rights obligations. Urban counties should review the language in their existing cooperation agreements regarding fair housing and civil rights obligations to determine whether they still need to revise their existing agreements. The use of automatically renewing cooperation agreements does not exempt existing urban counties from incorporating the required language in Section V.H. HUD will not accept any cooperation agreements or approve any urban county’s qualification/requalification that does not incorporate this language. Urban counties have the option of drafting a separate amendment to their existing agreements that includes these provisions rather than drafting a new cooperation agreement that contains the provisions. However, the separate amendment must still be executed by an official representative of each of the participating units of general local government and the urban county. Jurisdictions that are qualifying as an urban county for the first time must submit all required documents outlined in Section IV. to the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters in addition to their local HUD offices (see Section IV. for details). In addition, if new jurisdictions are seeking to qualify as urban counties because they contain metropolitan cities willing to relinquish their entitlement status, the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters should be notified as soon as possible, but no later than two weeks after the jurisdictions notify the Field Office of their intent to qualify as an urban county (see Section VIII. for details). A unit of general local government may not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of such funds to a metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local government, or Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or indirectly receives CDBG funds in exchange for any other funds, credits, or non-Federal considerations, but must use such funds for activities eligible under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. This 13 requirement first arose as a result of discovering that units of general local government located within an urban county were trading CDBG funds for unrestricted local funds. Congress has prohibited this practice. Urban counties qualifying in 2023 for FYs 2024-2026 must incorporate this provision into cooperation agreements by revision or amendment. HUD will not accept any cooperation agreements or approve any urban county’s qualification/requalification that does not incorporate this language. Section F., Section VIII., Special Considerations addresses the implications of an incorporated unit of general local government dissolving and the effect it will have on the urban county qualification/requalification process. Section G., Section VIII., Special Considerations addresses factors that arose during the 2017 qualification/requalification period regarding qualification of New York Towns as metropolitan cities. The coronavirus pandemic has affected the urban county qualification and requalification processes, in that all required correspondence and documents must be transmitted electronically. To avoid delays, HUD encourages urban counties to begin the qualification and requalification processes upon release of this Notice to meet the deadlines in Section II., Qualification Schedule. Section II identifies correspondence that must be submitted in letter format on the appropriate letterhead rather than by email. Any properly executed letter (i.e., in letter format on the appropriate letterhead) may be transmitted as an attachment via email. If a properly executed letter is required, the Notice shall denote such requirement by indicating that the correspondence or notification must be “by letter.” If not required, the Notice shall indicate that the correspondence or notification may be made “by letter or email.” Policy questions from Field Offices related to this Notice should be directed to Gloria Coates in the Entitlement Communities Division at (202) 402-2184 or gloria.l.coates@hud.gov. Data questions should be directed to Abubakari Zuberi in the Systems Development and Evaluation Division at (202) 708-0790 or abubakari.d.zuberi@hud.gov. Requests for deadline extensions should be directed to Gloria Coates. These are not toll-free numbers. The TTY number for both divisions is (202) 708-2565. The information collection requirements contained in this notice have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2506-0170, which expires January 31, 2025. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................... 1 A. Threshold ................................................................................................................ 1 B. Consolidated Plan Requirements ............................................................................ 2 C. Consolidated Plan Requirements Where the Urban County Is in a HOME Consortium .............................................................................................................. 2 D. Synchronization of Urban County and HOME Qualification Periods.…………... 3 II. QUALIFICATION SCHEDULE ……………..………………...………….………….....3 III. QUALIFICATION ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY COUNTY……………………….....7 A. Cooperation Agreements/Amendments ...................................................................7 B. Notification of Opportunity to Be Excluded ............................................................8 C. Notification of Opportunity to Be Included… ..............................................……..8 D. Notification of Split Places ......................................................................................9 E. Notification of Opportunity to Terminate Agreement ...........................................10 IV. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO HUD ..............................................................10 V. COOPERATION AGREEMENTS……………………………….……………...…..….11 VI. PERIOD OF QUALIFICATION ...................................................................................... 15 A. General .................................................................................................................. 15 B. Retaining Urban County Classification ................................................................ 15 VII. URBAN COUNTY PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES .................................................. 16 VIII. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................................... 16 A. Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients ............................................... 16 B. Subrecipient Agreements ...................................................................................... 17 C. Ineligibility for State CDBG Program .................................................................. 18 D. Eligibility for a HOME Consortium. .................................................................... 18 E. Counties with Potential Metropolitan Cities ..........................................................18 F. Incorporated Unit of General Local Government Dissolution ............................ 19 G. Qualification of New York Towns as Metropolitan Cities …………………….. 20 IX. DETERMINATIONS OF ESSENTIAL POWERS ...………………………..………... 21 Attachment A – All Currently Qualified Urban Counties Attachment B – Counties Scheduled to Requalify in 2023 for FYs 2024-2026 Attachment C – Counties Scheduled to Requalify in 2024 for FYs 2025-2027 15 Attachment D – Counties Scheduled to Requalify in 2025 for FYs 2026-2028 Attachment E – Counties Qualified through 2024 or 2025 That Contain Non-Participating Communities Attachment F – Counties That May Qualify as Urban Counties if Metropolitan Cities Relinquish Their Status Attachment G – Counties Previously Identified as Eligible But That Have Not Accepted Urban County Status 16 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT URBAN COUNTY QUALIFICATION Fiscal Years 2024-2026 In accordance with 24 CFR § 570.307(a) of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) regulations, the information below explains the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) process for qualifying and requalifying urban counties for purposes of the CDBG program. I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS A. Threshold To be entitled to receive CDBG funds as an urban county, a county must qualify as an urban county under one of the following thresholds: 1. Have a total combined population of 200,000 or more (excluding metropolitan cities) from the unincorporated areas and participating incorporated areas; 2. Have a total combined population of at least 100,000 but fewer than 200,000 from the unincorporated areas and participating incorporated areas, provided that, in the aggregate, those areas include the majority of persons of low and moderate income that reside in the county (outside of any metropolitan cities). Under this provision, the county itself is still required to have a minimum population of 200,000 (excluding metropolitan cities) to be potentially eligible. However, the urban county does not have to include each unit of general local government located therein, provided that the number of persons in the areas where the county has essential powers and in units of general local government where it has signed cooperation agreements equals at least 100,000. In addition, those included areas must in the aggregate contain the preponderance of low- and moderate-income persons residing in the urban county (calculated by dividing the number of low- and moderate-income persons residing in the county by two and adding one). Metropolitan cities are not included in these calculations; or 3. Meet specific requirements of Sec. 102(a)(6)(C) or (D) of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (the Act). HUD must conduct a review to determine that a prospective urban county possesses essential community development and housing assistance powers in any unincorporated areas that are not units of general local government (UGLGs). HUD must also review all the UGLGs within the county to determine those, if any, in which the county lacks such powers. The county must enter into cooperation agreements with any such units of local government that are to become part of the urban county. Such agreements would bind an UGLG to cooperate in the use of its powers in carrying out essential activities in accordance with the urban county's program. See Section IX. for additional information on Determinations of Essential Powers. 17 2 B. Consolidated Plan Requirements To receive an Entitlement Grant in FY 2024, an urban county must have an approved Consolidated Plan (pursuant to 24 CFR § 570.302 and Part 91). This includes urban counties newly qualifying during this qualification period; urban counties that continue to include the same communities previously included in the urban county; and those urban counties that are amending their urban county configurations to add communities that chose not to participate previously. Where an urban county enters into a joint agreement with a metropolitan city for CDBG purposes, a Consolidated Plan is submitted by the urban county to cover both governmental entities for the CDBG program. Pursuant to 24 CFR part 91, submission of a jurisdiction's Consolidated Plan may occur no earlier than November 15, and no later than August 16, of the Program Year for which CDBG, HOME, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) funds are appropriated to cover the Federal fiscal period of October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. An urban county's failure to submit its Consolidated Plan by August 16, 2024, will automatically result in a loss of CDBG funds for the 2024 program year (24 CFR § 570.304(c)(1)) and termination of its qualification as an urban county (24 CFR § 570.307(f)) unless Congress extends this deadline via statute. The Consolidated Plan must meet all requirements of 24 CFR part 91, including all required certifications. C. Consolidated Plan Requirements Where the Urban County Is in a HOME Consortium Where UGLGs form a consortium to receive HOME funding, the consortium’s lead entity submits the Consolidated Plan for the entire geographic area encompassed by the consortium (24 CFR § 91.400). Therefore, if an urban county is a member of a HOME consortium, the consortium submits the Consolidated Plan, and the urban county, like all other CDBG entitlement grantees in the consortium, is only required to submit its own non-housing Community Development Plan (24 CFR § 91.215(f)), an Action Plan (24 CFR § 91.220) and the required Certifications (24 CFR § 91.225(a) and (b) as part of the consortium's Consolidated Plan. If an urban county has a CDBG joint agreement with a metropolitan city and both jurisdictions wish to receive HOME funds, they must form a HOME consortium to become one entity for HOME purposes. [For additional information on the requirements for consortia agreements, see 24 CFR § 92.101 and the Notice of Procedures for Designation of Consortia as a Participating Jurisdiction for the HOME Program (CPD-13-002).] Although an urban county as a member of a HOME consortium is only required to submit its own non-housing Community Development Plan, Action Plan and required certifications, the program responsibilities as stated in Section VII. of this Notice are important regardless of whether the urban county is a member of a consortium. In this regard and considering the requirement to submit its own affirmatively furthering fair housing certification per 24 CFR 91.225, an urban county is encouraged to work with the lead entity for the consortium in developing and seeing to the submission of a Consolidated Plan that reflects fair housing strategies and actions. 18 3 However, if the urban county is the lead entity rather than simply a participant in the HOME consortium, the urban county must submit the housing and homeless needs assessment, market analysis, strategic plan, and Action Plan on behalf of the consortium. The urban county and other entitlement communities that are members of the consortium must separately submit the certifications required at 24 CFR 91.225(a) & (b). D. Synchronization of Urban County and HOME Qualification Periods CDBG urban counties and HOME consortia qualification periods are for three successive years. If a member urban county's CDBG three-year cycle is not the same as the HOME consortium's, the HOME consortium may elect a qualification period shorter than three years to get in sync with the urban county's CDBG three-year qualification cycle, as permitted in 24 CFR § 92.101(e). All consortium members must also have the same program year start date. Urban counties have requested extensions until the middle to end of September to submit all required documents to the HUD Field Office because some of the governing bodies of units of government in urban counties do not meet during the summer months. When there are automatically renewing cooperation agreements, the urban county must submit a legal opinion from the county’s counsel that the terms and provisions continue to be authorized under state and local law and that the agreement continues to provide full legal authority for the county. Copies of any executed amendments to automatically renewed cooperation agreements (if any) and, if locally required, governing body authorizations must also be submitted. Although flexibility exists to permit extensions in unusual situations, Headquarters will not grant any extensions past mid-September. Urban counties must factor in instances such as the meeting schedules of elected bodies of units of general local government while completing the requalification process, perhaps by submitting the cooperation agreement for execution before the summer recess begins. There are urban counties that are also completing the qualification/requalification process for HOME consortia at the same time they are completing the urban county qualification/requalification process. The qualification/requalification process for HOME consortia must be completed by the statutory deadline of September 30 for a HOME consortium to receive a formula allocation under HOME. If the urban county qualification/requalification process has not been completed by September 30, the consortium will not receive a HOME grant. To prevent this, all required documents must be received by HUD Field Offices by mid- September. This will allow Field Counsel time to review the cooperation agreements or amendments for legal sufficiency. II. QUALIFICATION SCHEDULE The following schedule will govern the procedures for urban county qualification for the three-year qualification cycle of FYs 2024-2026. Unless noted otherwise, deadlines may only be 19 4 extended by prior written authorization from Headquarters. Deadlines in paragraphs D., E., G., and I. may be extended by the Field Office as specified below. However, no extension may be granted by the Field Office if it would have the effect of extending a subsequent deadline that the Field Office is not authorized to extend. A. By May 5, 2023, the HUD Field Office shall notify counties that may seek to qualify or requalify as an urban county of HUD's Determination of Essential Powers (see Section IX) as certified by the Field Office Counsel (see Attachment B, Counties Scheduled to Qualify or Requalify in 2023 for the 2024-2026 Qualification Period). B. By May 5, 2023, counties must notify, by letter, split places of their options for exclusion from, or participation in, the urban county (see Attachment B and Section III., paragraph D, for an explanation of split places). C. By May 5, 2023, counties must notify, by letter, each included unit of general local government, where the county is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities without the consent of the governing body of the locality, of its right to elect to be excluded from the urban county, and the date by which it must make such election by letter (see paragraph E., below). HUD recommends that included units of government be advised that failure to respond means that they will be considered part of the urban county for FYs 2024-2026. Included units of government must also be notified that they are not eligible to apply for grants under the State CDBG program while they are part of the urban county. Additionally, that, in becoming a part of the urban county, they automatically participate in the HOME and ESG programs if the urban county receives HOME and ESG funding, respectively. Moreover, while units of general local government may only receive a formula allocation under the HOME and ESG programs as part of the urban county, this does not preclude the urban county, or a unit of government participating with the urban county, from applying for HOME or ESG funds from the State, if the State allows. D. Section 854(c) of the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act was amended by the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) to preserve the continued eligibility of FY 2016 HOPWA formula grantees, including Wake County, North Carolina, which is the HOPWA grantee for the Raleigh, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Wake County is the only urban county that receives a HOPWA formula award from HUD under this arrangement. HOTMA also amended section 854(c) to allow a HOPWA formula grantee to enter into an agreement with an eligible alternative grantee, including a unit of general local government (which includes a county), to receive and administer the HOPWA formula allocation in its place. More information is available in Notice CPD-17-12, available at: https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Notice-CPD-17-12- Implementation-of-HOTMA-Changes-to-the-HOPWA-Program.pdf A county that is already qualified as an urban county for FY 2024 (see Attachment E, Counties Qualified through 2024 or 2025 that Contain Nonparticipating Communities) may 20 5 elect to notify, by letter, nonparticipating units of government that they now have an opportunity to join the urban county for the remainder of the urban county's qualification period (see paragraph H., below). E. By June 12, 2023, any county which has executed cooperation agreements with no specified end date is required to notify, by letter, affected participating units of government that the agreement will automatically be renewed unless the unit of government notifies the county by letter by July 7, 2023, (see paragraph F., below) of its intent to terminate the agreement at the end of the current qualification period (see Attachment B). A failure by a unit of government to respond by the July 7, 2023, deadline means that the unit of government is required to remain with the urban county for FYs 2024-2026. Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter or email by the Field Office. An extension of more than seven days requires the Field Office to notify the Entitlement Communities Division by email or telephone. F. By June 12, 2023, any included unit of general local government, where the county does not need the consent of its governing body to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities, that elects to be excluded from an urban county must notify the county and its HUD Field Office, by letter, that it elects to be excluded. Potential new entitlement cities are identified by the Census Bureau on or around July 1. Any unit of general local government that met metropolitan city status for the first time in a requalifying urban county will be given additional time to decide whether it wants to be included or excluded since it will be notified of its status after the July 21 deadline (see Section VIII.E.). Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter or email by the Field Office. An extension of more than seven days requires the Field Office to notify the Entitlement Communities Division by email or telephone. G. By July7, 2023, any unit of government that has entered into a cooperation agreement with no specified end date with the county and elects not to continue participating with the county during the FY 2024-2026 qualification period must notify the county and its HUD Field Office by letter that it is terminating the agreement at the end of the current period. The county may allow additional time provided any such extension does not interfere with the county's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph J, below. H. By July 7, 2023, any unit of general local government that meets "metropolitan city" status for the first time and wishes to defer such status and remain part of the county, or to accept such status and become a joint recipient with the urban county, must notify the county and the HUD Field Office by letter that it elects to defer its metropolitan city status or to accept its status and join with the urban county in a joint agreement. Any metropolitan city that had deferred its status previously or had accepted its status and entered into a joint agreement with the urban county and wishes to maintain the same relationship with the county for this next qualification period, must notify the county and the HUD Field Office by letter by this date. Any unit of general local government that meets metropolitan city status for the first time and is notified in early July by HUD thereof will have until August 18, 2023, to comply 21 6 with the requirements of this paragraph. A potential metropolitan city that chooses to accept its entitlement status but chooses not to enter into a joint agreement with the urban county, or a current metropolitan city that chooses not to maintain a joint agreement with the urban county, must also notify the urban county and the HUD Field Office by letter by July 28, 2023. Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter by the Field Office. An extension of more than seven days requires the Field Office to notify the Entitlement Communities Division by email or telephone. I. By July 14, 2023, any unit of general local government that is not currently participating in an urban county and chooses to participate for the remaining second or third year of the county's qualification period must notify the county and the HUD Field Office by letter that it elects to be included. The county may allow additional time provided any such extension does not interfere with the county's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph J, below. J. By July 28, 2023, HUD Field Offices must notify CPD’s Systems Development and Evaluation Division via e-mail (Abubakari.D.Zuberi@hud.gov) whether cities that are already identified as potentially eligible metropolitan cities elect to defer or accept their status. For units of general local government that meet metropolitan city status for the first time and are notified in early July thereof (as discussed in paragraph H., above), they must elect to defer or accept their status by August 18, 2023. For units of general local government notified in early July of their status as potential new metropolitan cities, Field Offices have until September 8, 2023, to notify the Systems Development and Evaluation Division of their decisions. K. By August 4, 2023, any county seeking to qualify as an urban county (see Attachment B) or to include any previously nonparticipating units of general local government into its configuration (see Attachment E) must submit to the appropriate HUD Field Office all qualification documentation described in Section IV., Documents to be Submitted to HUD. Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter or email by the Field Office and should not interfere with the Field Office's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph N. The Entitlement Communities Division and Field Counsel must be notified by email or telephone if an extension of more than seven days is needed. For HOME program purposes, the urban county configurations are final as of September 30 of every year. The HOME deadline is statutory and cannot be extended. L. By August 25, 2023, Field Office Counsel should complete the reviews of all cooperation agreements and related authorizations and certify that each cooperation agreement meets the requirements of Section V, Cooperation Agreements. Any delay in completion of the review must not interfere with the Field Office's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph N. The Entitlement Communities Division should be notified by email or telephone of any delay in the Field Counsel's review. Note: If a county is using a renewable agreement and has submitted a legal opinion that the terms and conditions of the agreement continue to be authorized (see Section IV., paragraph E.), review of such opinion by Field Office Counsel is optional. However, Field Counsel must review the agreement to ensure that 22 7 any new requirements implemented by statute or regulation are incorporated into the agreement or added by an amendment to the agreement. M. During July, Headquarters will post the urban county worksheets for each qualifying and requalifying urban county (listed on Attachment B) on the CPD Grants Management Process (GMP) system. All information on included units of government must be completed via GMP. Specific instructions for completing these electronic worksheets will be provided by the CPD Systems Development and Evaluation Division at the time they are posted on GMP. N. By August 25, 2023, Field Offices shall update and complete the form electronically for each qualifying or requalifying county. The revised worksheet must be sent to the appropriate county for verification of data (via FAX, email, or regular mail). The Systems Development and Evaluation Division will have access to the completed worksheets in GMP. Field Offices shall also concurrently make available to the Systems Development and Evaluation Division (and each affected urban county) a memorandum that identifies any urban county already qualified for FY 2024 that is adding any new units of government, together with the names of the newly included units of government (see Attachment E). THIS DEADLINE MAY NOT BE EXTENDED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION FROM THE ENTITLEMENT COMMUNITIES DIVISION. O. By September 8, 2023 (or soon thereafter), Headquarters will complete its review of the urban county status worksheets and memoranda for those urban counties adding new units of government. The Field Offices will have access to the updated worksheets and, if necessary, an indication from Headquarters of any apparent discrepancies, problems, or questions – all noted in GMP. The Field Office is to verify the data in the GMP Final Report and notify the Systems Development and Evaluation Division within seven days if any problems exist. If there are no problems, Field Offices will notify, by letter, each county seeking to qualify as an urban county of its urban county status for FY 2024-2026 by September 22, 2023. III. QUALIFICATION ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY COUNTY The following actions are to be taken by the urban county: A. Cooperation Agreements/Amendments Urban counties that must enter into cooperation agreements or amendments, as appropriate, with the units of general local government located in whole or in part within the county, must submit to HUD executed cooperation agreements, together with evidence of authorization by the governing bodies of both parties (county and UGLG) executed by the proper officials (see Section V., Cooperation Agreements, paragraph A.) in sufficient time to meet the deadline for submission indicated in the schedule in Section II. (cooperation agreements must meet the standards in Section V. of this Notice). 23 8 Where urban counties do not have the authority to carry out essential community development and housing activities without the consent of the unit(s) of general local government located therein, urban counties are required to have executed cooperation agreements with these units of government that elect to participate in the urban counties’ CDBG programs. B. Notification of Opportunity to Be Excluded Units of general local government in which counties have authority to carry out essential community development and housing activities without the consent of the local governing body are automatically included in the urban county unless they elect to be excluded at the time of qualification or requalification. Any county that has such units of general local government must notify each such unit that it may elect to be excluded from the urban county. The unit of government must be notified: 1. That if it chooses to remain with the urban county, it is ineligible to apply for grants under the State CDBG program while it is part of the urban county; 2. That if it chooses to remain with the urban county, it is also a participant in the HOME program if the urban county receives HOME funding and may only receive a formula allocation under the HOME Program as a part of the urban county, although this does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government within the urban county from applying to the State for HOME funds, if the State allows; 3. That if it chooses to remain with the urban county, it is also a participant in the ESG program if the urban county receives ESG funding and may only receive a formula allocation under the ESG Program as a part of the urban county, although this does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government within the urban county from applying to the State for ESG funds, if the State allows; 4. That if it chooses to be excluded from the urban county, it must notify both the county and the HUD Field Office of its election to be excluded by the date specified in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph E.; and 5. That such election to be excluded will be effective for the entire three-year period for which the urban county qualifies unless the excluded unit specifically elects to be included in a subsequent year for the remainder of the urban county's three-year qualification period. C. Notification of Opportunity to Be Included If a currently qualified urban county has one or more nonparticipating units of general local government (see Attachment E), the county may notify, by letter, any such unit of local government during the second or third year of the qualification period that the local 24 9 government has the opportunity to be included for the remaining period of urban county qualification. This written notification must include the deadline for such election and must state that the unit of general local government must notify the county and the HUD Field Office, by letter, of its official decision to be included. If cooperation agreements are necessary, the unit electing to be included in the county for the remainder of the qualification period must also execute, with the county, a cooperation agreement meeting the standards in Section V., Cooperation Agreements. The agreement must be received by the HUD Field Office by the date specified in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph K. D. Notification of Split Places Counties seeking qualification as urban counties and having units of general local government with any population located only partly within the county must notify these units of their rights by the date provided in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph B. Specifically, the county must provide the following notifications: 1. Where a split place is partly located within only one urban county, one of the following rules applies: a. If it is a split place in which the county has essential powers, the entire area of the split place will be included in the urban county for the urban county qualification period unless the split place has opted out; or b. If the split place can only be included in the county upon the execution of a cooperation agreement, the entire area of the split place will be included in the urban county for the urban county qualification period upon execution of such an agreement. 2. Where the split place is partially located within two or more urban counties, the split place may elect one of the following: a. to be excluded from all urban counties; b. to be entirely included in one urban county and excluded from all other such counties; or c. to participate as a part of more than one of the urban counties in which it is partially located provided that a single portion of the split place cannot be included in more than one entitled urban county at a time, and all parts of the split place are included in one of the urban counties. 25 10 E. Notification of Opportunity to Terminate Agreement Urban counties that have agreements that will be automatically renewed at the end of the current qualification period unless action is taken by the unit of government to terminate the agreement must, by the date provided in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph E, notify such units that they can terminate the agreement and not participate during the 2024-2026 qualification period. IV. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO HUD Any county seeking to qualify as an urban county for FY 2024-2026 or that wishes to exercise its option to include units of government that are not currently in the urban county's CDBG program must submit the following to the responsible HUD Field Office: A. A copy of the letter that notified applicable units of general local government (and a list of applicable units of government) of their right to decide to be excluded from the urban county along with a copy of letters submitted to the county from any such units of general local government requesting exclusion (see Section III., Qualification Actions to Be Taken by County, paragraph B.). This does not apply to an already qualified urban county adding communities. B. A copy of the letter from any unit of general local government joining an already qualified county that officially notifies the county of its election to be included (see Section III. paragraph C.). C. Where applicable, a copy of the letter from: 1. Any city that may newly qualify as a metropolitan city but seeks to defer that status; 2. Any city currently deferring metropolitan city status that seeks to continue to defer such status; 3. Any city accepting metropolitan city status stating that it will enter into a joint agreement with the urban county and a letter from the county affirming its willingness to enter into a joint agreement with that city; or 4. Any city accepting metropolitan city status that will cease participation in the urban county’s CDBG program (See Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph G.). D. For a county that has cooperation agreements in effect that provide for automatic renewal, a copy of the letter sent by the county that notified affected units of government that the agreement will be renewed unless the county is notified by the unit of government to 26 11 terminate the agreement, and a copy of any such letter from any unit(s) of government requesting termination (see Section III., paragraph E.). E. Where applicable, copies of fully executed cooperation agreements, amended agreements, or stand-alone amendments between the county and its included units of general local government, including any cooperation agreements from applicable units of general local government covered under Section III., Qualification Actions to be Taken by County, paragraph C., and the opinions of county counsel and governing body authorizations required in Section V., Cooperation Agreements, paragraphs B. and C. For a county that has cooperation agreements in effect that provide for automatic renewal of the urban county qualification period as provided under Section V., Cooperation Agreements, paragraph E., at the time of such automatic renewal, the documents to be submitted are: (1) a legal opinion from the county’s counsel that the terms and provisions continue to be authorized under state and local law and that the agreement continues to provide full legal authority for the county; (2) copies of any executed amendments to automatically renewed cooperation agreements (if any); and, (3) if locally required, governing body authorizations. F. Any joint request(s) for inclusion of a metropolitan city as a part of the urban county as permitted by Section VIII., paragraph A., Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients, along with a copy of the required cooperation agreement(s). If either the urban county or the metropolitan city falls under the "exception criteria" at 24 CFR § 570.208(a)(1)(ii) for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income residents of an area, the urban county must notify, by letter, the metropolitan city of the potential effects of such joint agreements on such activities. See Section VIII., paragraph A., for further clarification. All jurisdictions seeking to qualify as an urban county for the first time must ensure that all documents outlined in this Section that are submitted to the HUD Field Office are also submitted to the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters for review. The original documents should be submitted to the HUD Field Office and the copies to HUD Headquarters. V. COOPERATION AGREEMENTS All cooperation agreements must meet the following standards to be found acceptable: A. The governing body of the county and the governing body of the cooperating unit of general local government shall authorize the agreement and the chief executive officer of each unit of general local government shall execute the agreement. B. The agreement must contain, or be accompanied by, a legal opinion from the county's counsel that the terms and provisions of the agreement are fully authorized under State and local law and that the agreement provides full legal authority for the county. Where the 27 12 county does not have such authority, the legal opinion must state that the participating unit of general local government has the authority to undertake, or assist in undertaking, essential community renewal and lower income housing assistance activities. A mere certification by the county's counsel that the agreement is approved as to form is insufficient and unacceptable. C. The agreement must state that the agreement covers the CDBG Entitlement program and, where applicable, the HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Programs (i.e., where the urban county receives funding under the ESG program or receives funding under the HOME program as an urban county or as a member of a HOME consortium). D. The agreement must state that, by executing the CDBG cooperation agreement, the included unit of general local government understands that it: 1. May not apply for grants from appropriations under the State CDBG Program for fiscal years during the period in which it participates in the urban county's CDBG program; 2. May receive a formula allocation under the HOME Program only through the urban county. Thus, even if the urban county does not receive a HOME formula allocation, the participating unit of local government cannot form a HOME consortium with other local governments. (Note: This does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government participating with the urban county from applying to the State for HOME funds if the state allows. An existing renewable agreement need not be amended to add this Note. It is included here only for purposes of clarification.); and 3. May receive a formula allocation under the ESG Program only through the urban county. (Note: This does not preclude the urban county or a unit of general local government participating with the urban county from applying to the State for ESG funds if the state allows. An existing renewable agreement need not be amended to add this Note. It is included here only for purposes of clarification.) E. The agreement must specify the three years covered by the urban county qualification period (e.g., Federal FYs 2024-2026), for which the urban county is to qualify to receive CDBG entitlement funding or, where applicable, specify the remaining one or two years of an existing urban county's qualification period. At the option of the county, the agreement may provide that it will automatically be renewed for participation in successive three-year qualification periods, unless the county or the participating unit of general local government provides written notice it elects not to participate in a new qualification period. A copy of that notice must be sent to the HUD Field Office. Where such agreements are used, the agreement must state that, by the date specified in HUD's urban county qualification notice for the next qualification period, the urban county will notify the participating unit of general local government by letter of its right not to 28 13 participate. A copy of the county's notification to the jurisdiction must be sent to the HUD Field Office by the date specified in the urban county qualification schedule in Section II. F. Cooperation agreements with automatic renewal provisions must include a stipulation that requires each party to adopt any amendment to the agreement incorporating changes necessary to meet the requirements for cooperation agreements set forth in an Urban County Qualification Notice applicable for a subsequent three-year urban county qualification period, and to submit such amendment to HUD as provided in the urban county qualification notice (see Section IV., Documents to be Submitted to HUD, paragraph E.), and that such failure to comply will void the automatic renewal for such qualification period. G. The agreement must provide that it remains in effect until the CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) funds and program income received (with respect to activities carried out during the three-year qualification period, and any successive qualification periods under agreements that provide for automatic renewals) are expended and the funded activities completed, and that the county and participating unit of general local government cannot terminate or withdraw from the cooperation agreement while it remains in effect. H. The agreement must expressly state that the county and the cooperating unit of general local government agree to cooperate to undertake, or assist in undertaking, community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. If the county does not have such powers, the agreement must expressly state that the cooperating unit of general local government agrees to "undertake, or assist in undertaking, community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities." As an alternative to this wording, the cooperation agreement may reference State legislation authorizing such activities, but only with the approval of the specific alternative wording by HUD Field Counsel. The agreement must contain an explicit provision obligating the county and the cooperating units of general local government to take all actions necessary to assure compliance with the urban county's certification under section 104(b) of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, that the grant will be conducted and administered in conformity with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 1, and the Fair Housing Act, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 100, and will affirmatively further fair housing. See 24 CFR § 91.225(a) and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Definitions and Certifications (86 FR 30779, June 10, 2021), to be codified at 24 CFR 5.151 and 5.152, available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/10/2021-12114/restoring-affirmatively- furthering-fair-housing-definitions-and-certifications.The provision must also include the obligation to comply with section 109 of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 6, which incorporates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 8, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the implementing regulations at 28 CFR part 35, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the 29 14 implementing regulation at 24 CFR part 146, and Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. The provision must also include the obligation to comply with other applicable laws. The agreement shall also contain a provision prohibiting urban county funding for activities in, or in support of, any cooperating unit of general local government that does not affirmatively further fair housing within its own jurisdiction or that impedes the county's actions to comply with the county's fair housing certification. This provision is required because noncompliance by a unit of general local government included in an urban county may constitute noncompliance by the grantee (i.e., the urban county) that can, in turn, provide cause for funding sanctions or other remedial actions by the Department. The agreement must include the obligation to sign the assurances and certifications in the HUD 424-B. Periodically, statutory, or regulatory changes may require urban counties to amend their agreements to add the new provision(s). Urban counties may draft a separate amendment to their existing agreements that includes the new provision(s) rather than drafting a new cooperation agreement that contains the new provisions. However, the separate amendment must be executed by an official representative of each of the participating units of general local government and the urban county. I. The agreement must expressly state that the cooperating unit of general local government has adopted and is enforcing: 1. A policy prohibiting the use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies within its jurisdiction against any individuals engaged in non-violent civil rights demonstrations; and 2. A policy of enforcing applicable State and local laws against physically barring entrance to or exit from a facility or location which is the subject of such non-violent civil rights demonstrations within jurisdictions. J. The agreement may not contain a provision for veto or other restriction that would allow any party to the agreement to obstruct the implementation of the approved Consolidated Plan during the period covered by the agreement. The county has final responsibility for selecting CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) activities and submitting the Consolidated Plan to HUD. If the county is a member of a HOME consortium, however, the consortium submits the Plan developed by the county (see Section I., General Requirements, paragraph C.). K. The agreement must contain language specifying that, pursuant to 24 CFR § 570.501(b), the unit of local government is subject to the same requirements applicable to subrecipients, including the requirement of a written agreement as described in 24 CFR § 570.503 (see Section VIII., Special Considerations, paragraph B.). 30 15 L. A county may also include in the cooperation agreement any provisions authorized by State and local laws that legally obligate the cooperating units to undertake the necessary actions, as determined by the county, to carry out a community development program and the approved Consolidated Plan and/or meet other requirements of the CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) program and other applicable laws. M. The county must also include a provision in the cooperation agreement that a unit of general local government may not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of such funds to another such metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local government, or Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or indirectly receives CDBG funds in exchange for any other funds, credits or non-Federal considerations, but must use such funds for activities eligible under Title I of the Act. Urban counties requalifying in 2023 for FYs 2024-2026 must incorporate this language into cooperation agreements by revision or amendment. VI. PERIOD OF QUALIFICATION A. General Any county that qualifies as an urban county will be entitled to receive funds as an urban county for three consecutive fiscal years regardless of changes in its population or boundary or population changes in any communities contained within the urban county during that period, provided funds are appropriated by Congress and the county submits its annual Action Plan by August 16 of each year. However, during the period of qualification, no included unit of general local government may withdraw from the urban county unless the urban county does not receive a grant for any year during such period. The urban county's grant amount is calculated annually and will reflect the addition of any new units of general local government during the second and third years of the period of qualification. Any unincorporated portion of the county that incorporates during the urban county qualification period will remain part of the urban county through the end of the three-year period. Any unit of general local government that is part of an urban county will continue to be included in the urban county for that county's qualification period, even if it meets the criteria to be considered a “metropolitan city” during that period. Such an included unit of general local government cannot become eligible for a separate entitlement grant as a metropolitan city while participating as a part of an urban county (see Section VIII paragraph E). B. Retaining Urban County Classification Any county classified as an urban county in FY 1999 may, at the option of the county, retain 31 16 its classification as an urban county. Any county that became classified as an urban county in FY 2000 or later and was so classified for at least two years will retain its classification as an urban county, unless the urban county qualified under section 102(a)(6)(A) of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, and fails to requalify under that section due to the election of a currently participating non-entitlement community to opt out or not to renew a cooperation agreement (for reasons other than becoming an eligible metropolitan city). VII. URBAN COUNTY PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES The county, as the CDBG grant recipient, either for the urban county or a joint recipient (see Section VIII, paragraph A., Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients) has full responsibility for the execution of the community development program, for following its Consolidated Plan, and for complying with laws and requirements applicable to the CDBG program. The county's responsibility must include these functions even where, as a matter of administrative convenience or State law, the county permits the participating units of general local government to carry out essential community development and housing assistance activities. The county will be held accountable for the accomplishment of the community development program, for following its Consolidated Plan, and for ensuring that actions necessary for such accomplishment are taken by cooperating units of general local government. VIII. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS A. Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients Any urban county and any metropolitan city located in whole or in part within that county can ask HUD to approve the inclusion of the metropolitan city as a part of the urban county for purposes of planning and implementing a joint community development and housing assistance program. HUD will consider approving a joint request only if it is signed by the chief executive officers of both entities and is submitted at the time the county is seeking its qualification as an urban county. A joint request will be deemed approved unless HUD notifies the city and the county otherwise within 30 days following submission of the joint request and an executed cooperation agreement meeting the requirements specified under Section V., Cooperation Agreements. An urban county may be joined by more than one metropolitan city, but a metropolitan city located in more than one urban county may be a joint recipient with only one urban county at a time. Upon urban county qualification and HUD approval of the joint request, the metropolitan city becomes a part of the urban county for purposes of program planning and implementation for the entire period of the urban county qualification and will be treated by HUD as any other unit of general local government that is a part of the urban county. When a metropolitan city joins an urban county in this manner, the grant amount is the sum of the 32 17 amounts authorized for the individual metropolitan city and urban county. The urban county becomes the grant recipient. A metropolitan city in a joint agreement with the urban county is treated the same as any other unit of general local government that is part of the urban county for purposes of the CDBG program, but not for the HOME or ESG programs. If the metropolitan city does not qualify to receive a separate allocation of HOME funds, to be considered for HOME funding as part of the urban county, it may form a HOME consortium with the urban county. If the metropolitan city qualifies to receive a separate allocation of HOME funds, it has two options: (1) it may form a HOME consortium with the county, in which case it will be included as part of the county when the HOME funds for the county are calculated; or (2) the metropolitan city may administer its HOME program on its own. NOTE: The execution of a CDBG joint agreement between an urban county and metropolitan city does not in itself satisfy HOME requirements for a written consortia agreement. For additional information on the requirements for consortia agreements, see 24 CFR 92.101 and the Notice of Procedures for Designation of Consortia as a Participating Jurisdiction for the HOME Program (CPD-13-002). The ESG program does provide for joint agreements among certain grantees; however, there are separate requirements that apply to those joint agreements. A metropolitan city and an urban county that each receive an allocation under ESG and are located within a geographic area that is covered by a single Continuum of Care (CoC) may jointly request the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to permit the urban county or the metropolitan city, as agreed to by such county and city, to receive and administer their combined allocations under a single grant. For more information about joint agreements for the ESG program, contact Marlisa Grogan at 603-666-7510, Ext. 3049 or Marlisa.M.Grogan@hud.gov. The TTY number is 603-666-3805. These are not toll-free numbers. Counties and metropolitan cities considering a joint request should be aware that significant effects could occur where either the urban county or the metropolitan city would otherwise fall under the exception rule criteria for activities that benefit low-and moderate-income residents on an area basis (see 24 CFR 570.208(a)(1)(ii)). Joint agreements result in a modification to an urban county's configuration, and a change in the mix of census block groups in an urban county is likely to change the relative ranking of specific block groups by quartile, thus affecting the minimum concentration of low- and moderate-income persons under the exception rule. HUD will make a rank-ordering computer run available to counties and metropolitan cities considering joint participation to assist them in determining the possible effects of inclusion and how such an agreement may impact their respective programs. B. Subrecipient Agreements The execution of cooperation agreements meeting the requirements of Section V., Cooperation Agreements, between an urban county and its participating units of local 33 18 government does not in itself satisfy the requirement for a written subrecipient agreement required by the regulations at 24 CFR 570.503. Where a participating unit of general local government carries out an eligible activity funded by the urban county, the urban county is responsible, prior to disbursing any CDBG funds for any such activity or project, for executing a written subrecipient agreement with the unit of government containing the minimum requirements found at 24 § CFR 570.503. The subrecipient agreement must remain in effect during any period that the unit of local government has control over CDBG funds, including program income. C. Ineligibility for State CDBG Program An urban county's included units of general local government are ineligible to apply for grants from appropriations under the State CDBG Program for fiscal years during the period in which the units of general local government are participating in the Entitlement CDBG program with the urban county. D. Eligibility for a HOME Consortium When included units of local government become part of an urban county for the CDBG Program, they are part of the urban county for the HOME Program and may receive HOME funds only as part of the urban county or from the State. Thus, even if the urban county does not receive a HOME formula allocation, the participating unit of local government cannot form a HOME consortium with other local governments. This does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government within an urban county from applying to the State for HOME funds if the State allows. However, a unit of local government that chooses to opt out of the urban county may become part of a HOME consortium by signing the HOME consortium agreement. A unit of local government that is partially located in two counties with at least one of those counties being a member of a consortium may participate in the consortium. If the county is an urban county, the unit of local government may only participate as a member of the urban county. E. Counties with Potential Metropolitan Cities If a county includes a unit of general local government that believes its population meets the statutory threshold to enable it to receive CDBG entitlement funds as a metropolitan city directly, but the city and county have not yet received notification from HUD regarding metropolitan city eligibility, HUD has identified two options a county may use to address such situations: 1. The county and community can negotiate a schedule that will provide the community additional time to receive notification from HUD of its eligibility as a potential new metropolitan city and, if the community does not reach metropolitan city status (or 34 19 becomes eligible and elects to defer its status), execute a cooperation agreement and still meet the deadlines identified in this Notice; or 2. If a county believes delaying the execution of a cooperation agreement until HUD provides such notification will prohibit it from meeting the submission deadlines in this Notice, the county may want to include a clause in the agreement that provides that the agreement will be voided if the community is advised by HUD, prior to the completion of the requalification process for FYs 2024-2026, that it is eligible to become a metropolitan city and the community elects to take its entitlement status. If such a clause is used, it must state that if the agreement is not voided based on the community’s eligibility as a metropolitan city prior to July 28, 2023 (or a later date if approved by letter or email by HUD), the community must remain a part of the county for the entire three-year period of the county’s qualification. Option 1 above is preferred. Option 2 is available if a county wishes to use it, although there is concern that a community may believe that the use of a clause that may void the agreement will enable it to opt out later in the three-year period of qualification if it reaches the population during that time to be a metropolitan city. Therefore, any such clause must be clear that it applies only for a limited period of time. There are jurisdictions that may potentially qualify as urban counties for the first time because they contain one or more metropolitan cities that may consider relinquishing their status as entitlement grantees. If a county has a metropolitan city or cities that are willing to relinquish its/their status as entitlement grantee(s) and the county wants to begin the process of qualifying as an urban county, the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters should be notified as soon as possible, but no later than two weeks after the county notifies the Field Office of its intent to qualify as an urban county. A list of these counties is provided as Attachment F. F. Incorporated Unit of General Local Government Dissolution A unit of general local government located in an urban county may unincorporate or dissolve or merge with another unit of general local government. Assuming the urban county possesses essential community development and housing assistance powers, the dissolved unit of general local government will automatically be considered as part of the urban county for CDBG program purposes. If the dissolved unit of government merges into another unit of general local government that already participates in the urban county, then the newly expanded unit of government will be a participant in the urban county’s CDBG program. The cooperation agreement between the urban county and the expanded unit of general local government will need to be submitted to the Field Office for Field Counsel review. The Bureau of Census’ (Census) designation of a former incorporated unit of general local government as dissolved or a former unincorporated unit of general local 35 20 government as incorporated is important because Section 102(b) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, requires the definitions in Section 102(a) such as city, metropolitan city, and urban county to be based on the most recent data compiled by Census. Therefore, Census must recognize the former incorporated unit of general local government as dissolved for it to be recognized by HUD as no longer being an incorporated unit of general local government. If the urban county is requalifying this year or the following year, and the unit of general local government is recognized by Census as dissolved, the former unit of general local government will be considered a part of the unincorporated area of the urban county. In that instance, CDBG funds may be used to assist activities that will be located in the former unit of general local government, and its residents may benefit from CDBG- assisted activities. If the urban county is requalifying this year, and the unit of general local government is not recognized as dissolved by Census (although dissolution has occurred), it will become part of the urban county, since the unit of government has legally ceased to exist. G. Qualification of New York Towns as Metropolitan Cities In the state of New York, there are towns that can qualify as metropolitan cities. These towns are required to secure the participation of all the incorporated villages located within their boundaries to attain metropolitan city status. As metropolitan cities, these towns may receive their own CDBG grants. New York towns requalify every three years. There are eight New York towns (Greensburgh, Hempstead, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Clarkstown, Ramapo, Smithtown, and Southampton) that are located in existing urban counties and are eligible to be metropolitan cities but have not taken steps to qualify as metropolitan cities. They decided to participate in their respective urban counties’ CDBG programs as participating units of general government. However, when the urban counties in which the towns are located requalify, these eight towns may decide to become metropolitan cities and administer their own CDBG programs. This means that the towns would have elected to leave the urban counties in which they were participating as units of general local government. If a New York town decides to become a metropolitan city and administer its own CDBG program, the following steps must be taken: 1. The New York town should decide before the urban county requalification process starts (usually March or April) whether it will accept its metropolitan city status. Past experience has demonstrated that units of general local government need plenty of time to complete all of the necessary processes, so HUD recommends that this decision-making process start in the year before the urban county’s requalification year. The town must secure the participation of all the villages located within its boundaries by execution of a cooperation agreement with those villages. Depending 36 21 on local circumstances, it may take several months to notify every village by letter of its intent to become a separate entitlement community and to secure the participation of all the villages. The town cannot qualify as an entitlement grantee unless it secures the participation of all the villages. To illustrate, for example, hypothetical Blue County is requalifying in 2024 for 2025-2027. The town of Orange has been participating in the county’s CDBG program but would like to become an entitlement grantee and administer its own CDBG program. It is advisable that the town make this decision during 2023 so it can begin to contact the villages and secure their participation in the town’s CDBG program. 2. The urban county is required to notify all participating units of general local government by letter (typically, in April) that they may choose to opt out of participation in the urban county’s CDBG program. The units of general local government must notify the urban counties by letter of their decisions by the due date (typically, in June) in Section II. of the urban county Qualification/ Requalification Notice. The New York town must respond to the urban county’s correspondence by that date. If the town has an automatically renewing cooperation agreement with the urban county, it must notify the county (typically by mid-June) that it is terminating the cooperation agreement. The urban county must be notified by the established deadlines in this Notice so that it may complete the requalification process in a timely manner. Failure to meet the established deadlines may result in the New York town having to remain as part of the urban county for the next three-year qualification period. Furthermore, if a town notifies its respective urban county that it is leaving, and then does not sign up all the villages, then the town and any villages that have signed on to the town’s decision to seek entitlement status may be excluded from the urban county but cannot receive separate metropolitan city funding because it did not qualify. IX. DETERMINATIONS OF ESSENTIAL POWERS A. For new urban counties, HUD Field Office Counsel must initially determine whether each county within its jurisdiction that is eligible to qualify as an urban county has powers to carry out essential community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. For requalifying urban counties, the Field Office Counsel may rely on its previous determination(s) unless there is evidence to the contrary. In assessing such evidence, Field Office counsel may consider information provided by the county and its included units of general local government as well as other relevant information obtained from independent sources. For these purposes, the term essential community development and housing assistance activities means community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. Activities that may be accepted as essential community development and housing assistance activities might include but are not limited to (1) acquisition of property for disposition for private reuse, especially for low- and moderate-income housing; (2) direct rehabilitation of 37 22 or financial assistance to housing; (3) low rent housing activities; (4) disposition of land to private developers for appropriate redevelopment; and (5) condemnation of property for low-income housing. In making the required determinations, Field Office Counsel must consider both the county’s authority and, where applicable, the authority of its designated agency or agencies. Field Office Counsel shall make such determinations as identified below and concur in notifications to the county(ies) about these issues. B. For new and requalifying counties, the notification by the Field Office required under Section II., paragraph A., must include the following determinations: 1. Whether the county is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities in its unincorporated areas, if any, which are not units of general local government. 2. Which of the county’s units of general local government the county is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities without the consent of the governing body of the locality. The population of these units of local government will be counted towards qualification of the urban county unless they specifically elect to be excluded from the county for purposes of the CDBG program and so notify both the county and HUD by letter by July 14, 2023); and, 3. Which of the county’s units of general local government the county is either (a) not authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities or (b) may do so only with the consent of the governing body of the locality. The population of these units of local government will only be counted if they have signed cooperation agreements with the county that meet the standards set forth in Section V. of this Notice. 38 23 ATTACHMENT A ALL CURRENTLY QUALIFIED URBAN COUNTIES NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES MAINE CUMBERLAND COUNTY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY ATLANTIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON COUNTY NEW JERSEY CAMDEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY GLOUCESTER COUNTY NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY NEW JERSEY MIDDLESEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY MONMOUTH COUNTY NEW JERSEY MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY OCEAN COUNTY NEW JERSEY PASSAIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY SOMERSET COUNTY NEW JERSEY UNION COUNTY NEW YORK DUTCHESS COUNTY NEW YORK ERIE COUNTY NEW YORK MONROE COUNTY NEW YORK NASSAU COUNTY NEW YORK ONONDAGA COUNTY NEW YORK ORANGE COUNTY NEW YORK ROCKLAND COUNTY NEW YORK SUFFOLK COUNTY NEW YORK WESTCHESTER COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DELAWARE NEW CASTLE COUNTY MARYLAND ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY 39 24 MARYLAND HARFORD COUNTY MARYLAND HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ALLEGHENY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BEAVER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BERKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BUCKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CHESTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CUMBERLAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DAUPHIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LANCASTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LEHIGH COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LUZERNE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA NORTHAMPTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WASHINGTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WESTMORELAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA YORK COUNTY VIRGINIA ARLINGTON COUNTY VIRGINIA CHESTERFIELD COUNTY VIRGINIA FAIRFAX COUNTY VIRGINIA HENRICO COUNTY VIRGINIA LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA JEFFERSON COUNTY ALABAMA MOBILE COUNTY FLORIDA BREVARD COUNTY FLORIDA BROWARD COUNTY FLORIDA CLAY COUNTY FLORIDA COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY 40 25 FLORIDA LAKE COUNTY FLORIDA LEE COUNTY FLORIDA MANATEE COUNTY FLORIDA MARION COUNTY FLORIDA MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FLORIDA ORANGE COUNTY FLORIDA OSCEOLA COUNTY FLORIDA PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA PINELLAS COUNTY FLORIDA POLK COUNTY FLORIDA SARASOTA COUNTY FLORIDA SEMINOLE COUNTY FLORIDA ST. JOHNS COUNTY FLORIDA VOLUSIA COUNTY GEORGIA CHEROKEE COUNTY GEORGIA CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA COBB COUNTY GEORGIA DE KALB COUNTY GEORGIA FULTON COUNTY GEORGIA GWINNETT COUNTY GEORGIA HENRY COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA UNION COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA BERKELEY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA CHARLESTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA GREENVILLE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA HORRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA LEXINGTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA RICHLAND COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA SPARTANBURG COUNTY TENNESSEE KNOX COUNTY TENNESSEE SHELBY COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES 41 26 ILLINOIS COOK COUNTY ILLINOIS DU PAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS LAKE COUNTY ILLINOIS MADISON COUNTY ILLINOIS MCHENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS ST. CLAIR COUNTY ILLINOIS WILL COUNTY INDIANA HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA LAKE COUNTY MICHIGAN GENESEE COUNTY MICHIGAN KENT COUNTY MICHIGAN MACOMB COUNTY MICHIGAN OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN WASHTENAW COUNTY MICHIGAN WAYNE COUNTY MINNESOTA ANOKA COUNTY MINNESOTA DAKOTA COUNTY MINNESOTA HENNEPIN COUNTY MINNESOTA RAMSEY COUNTY MINNESOTA ST. LOUIS COUNTY MINNESOTA WASHINGTON COUNTY OHIO BUTLER COUNTY OHIO CLERMONT COUNTY OHIO CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY OHIO LAKE COUNTY OHIO MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO STARK COUNTY OHIO SUMMIT COUNTY OHIO WARREN COUNTY WISCONSIN DANE COUNTY WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE COUNTY WISCONSIN WAUKESHA COUNTY 42 27 SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES LOUISIANA JEFFERSON PARISH LOUISIANA ST. TAMMANY PARISH OKLAHOMA TULSA COUNTY TEXAS BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS BRAZORIA COUNTY TEXAS DALLAS COUNTY TEXAS FORT BEND COUNTY TEXAS HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS HIDALGO COUNTY TEXAS MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEXAS TARRANT COUNTY TEXAS TRAVIS COUNTY TEXAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES KANSAS JOHNSON COUNTY MISSOURI JEFFERSON COUNTY MISSOURI ST. LOUIS COUNTY MISSOURI ST. CHARLES COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES COLORADO ADAMS COUNTY COLORADO ARAPAHOE COUNTY COLORADO EL PASO COUNTY COLORADO JEFFERSON COUNTY COLORADO WELD COUNTY UTAH SALT LAKE COUNTY UTAH UTAH COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA MARICOPA COUNTY 43 28 ARIZONA PIMA COUNTY ARIZONA PINAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA ALAMEDA COUNTY CALIFORNIA CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CALIFORNIA FRESNO COUNTY CALIFORNIA KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES COUNTY CALIFORNIA MARIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA MONTEREY COUNTY CALIFORNIA ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE COUNTY CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN MATEO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA CLARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA SONOMA COUNTY CALIFORNIA STANISLAUS COUNTY CALIFORNIA VENTURA COUNTY NEVADA CLARK COUNTY NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES OREGON CLACKAMAS COUNTY OREGON MARION COUNTY OREGON MULTNOMAH COUNTY OREGON WASHINGTON COUNTY WASHINGTON CLARK COUNTY WASHINGTON KING COUNTY WASHINGTON KITSAP COUNTY WASHINGTON PIERCE COUNTY WASHINGTON SNOHOMISH COUNTY WASHINGTON SPOKANE COUNTY WASHINGTON THURSTON COUNTY 44 29 45 30 ATTACHMENT B COUNTIES SCHEDULED TO REQUALIFY IN 2023 FOR FYs 2024-2026 NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON COUNTY NEW JERSEY CAMDEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY NEW JERSEY MIDDLESEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY MONMOUTH COUNTY NEW JERSEY MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY UNION COUNTY NEW YORK ERIE COUNTY NEW YORK MONROE COUNTY NEW YORK NASSAU COUNTY NEW YORK ONONDAGA COUNTY NEW YORK ORANGE COUNTY NEW YORK ROCKLAND COUNTY NEW YORK SUFFOLK COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DELAWARE NEW CASTLE COUNTY MARYLAND ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY MARYLAND HARFORD COUNTY MARYLAND MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ALLEGHENY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BEAVER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BERKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BUCKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CHESTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LANCASTER COUNTY 46 31 PENNSYLVANIA LUZERNE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WASHINGTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WESTMORELAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA YORK COUNTY VIRGINIA ARLINGTON COUNTY VIRGINIA FAIRFAX COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA JEFFERSON COUNTY FLORIDA BROWARD COUNTY FLORIDA CLAY COUNTY FLORIDA ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA LAKE COUNTY FLORIDA MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FLORIDA ORANGE COUNTY FLORIDA PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA PINELLAS COUNTY FLORIDA POLK COUNTY FLORIDA VOLUSIA COUNTY GEORGIA CHEROKEE COUNTY GEORGIA COBB COUNTY GEORGIA DE KALB COUNTY GEORGIA FULTON COUNTY GEORGIA HENRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA BERKELEY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA CHARLESTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA GREENVILLE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA LEXINGTON COUNTY TENNESSEE KNOX COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES ILLINOIS COOK COUNTY 47 32 ILLINOIS DU PAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS LAKE COUNTY ILLINOIS MADISON COUNTY ILLINOIS ST. CLAIR COUNTY ILLINOIS WILL COUNTY MICHIGAN GENESEE COUNTY MICHIGAN KENT COUNTY MICHIGAN MACOMB COUNTY MICHIGAN OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN WASHTENAW COUNTY MICHIGAN WAYNE COUNTY MINNESOTA HENNEPIN COUNTY OHIO CLERMONT COUNTY OHIO CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY OHIO LAKE COUNTY OHIO MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO STARK COUNTY OHIO SUMMIT COUNTY OHIO WARREN COUNTY WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES LOUISIANA JEFFERSON PARISH TEXAS DALLAS COUNTY TEXAS HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS HIDALGO COUNTY TEXAS TARRANT COUNTY TEXAS TRAVIS COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES MISSOURI ST. LOUIS COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES 48 33 COLORADO EL PASO COUNTY COLORADO JEFFERSON COUNTY COLORADO WELD COUNTY UTAH SALT LAKE COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA MARICOPA COUNTY CALIFORNIA ALAMEDA COUNTY CALIFORNIA CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CALIFORNIA FRESNO COUNTY CALIFORNIA KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES COUNTY CALIFORNIA MARIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE COUNTY CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN MATEO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA CLARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA SONOMA COUNTY NEVADA CLARK COUNTY NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES OREGON CLACKAMAS COUNTY OREGON MARION COUNTY OREGON WASHINGTON COUNTY WASHINGTON CLARK COUNTY WASHINGTON KING COUNTY WASHINGTON PIERCE COUNTY WASHINGTON SNOHOMISH COUNTY WASHINGTON SPOKANE COUNTY 49 34 50 35 ATTACHMENT C COUNTIES SCHEDULED TO REQUALIFY IN 2024 FOR FYs 2025-2027 NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES MAINE CUMBERLAND COUNTY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY ATLANTIC COUNTY NEW YORK DUTCHESS COUNTY NEW YORK WESTCHESTER COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES PENNSYLVANIA LEHIGH COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA NORTHAMPTON COUNTY VIRGINIA CHESTERFIELD COUNTY VIRGINIA LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES FLORIDA BREVARD COUNTY FLORIDA COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY FLORIDA OSCEOLA COUNTY FLORIDA PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA SEMINOLE COUNTY FLORIDA ST. JOHNS COUNTY GEORGIA CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA GWINNETT COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA UNION COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA SPARTANBURG COUNTY 51 36 TENNESSEE SHELBY COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES ILLINOIS KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS MCHENRY COUNTY INDIANA HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA LAKE COUNTY MINNESOTA RAMSEY COUNTY MINNESOTA WASHINGTON COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES TEXAS BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS BRAZORIA COUNTY TEXAS FORT BEND COUNTY TEXAS MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEXAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES KANSAS JOHNSON COUNTY MISSOURI JEFFERSON COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES COLORADO ADAMS COUNTY COLORADO ARAPAHOE COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA PINAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA MONTEREY COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA VENTURA COUNTY 52 37 NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES OREGON MULTNOMAH COUNTY WASHINGTON THURSTON COUNTY 53 38 ATTACHMENT D COUNTIES SCHEDULED TO REQUALIFY IN 2025 FOR FYs 2026-2028 NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY GLOUCESTER COUNTY NEW JERSEY OCEAN COUNTY NEW JERSEY PASSAIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY SOMERSET COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES MARYLAND HOWARD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CUMBERLAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DAUPHIN COUNTY VIRGINIA HENRICO COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA MOBILE COUNTY FLORIDA LEE COUNTY FLORIDA MANATEE COUNTY FLORIDA MARION COUNTY FLORIDA SARASOTA COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA HORRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA RICHLAND COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES MINNESOTA ANOKA COUNTY MINNESOTA DAKOTA COUNTY MINNESOTA ST LOUIS COUNTY OHIO BUTLER COUNTY 54 39 WISCONSIN DANE COUNTY WISCONSIN WAUKESHA COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES LOUISIANA ST. TAMMANY PARISH OKLAHOMA TULSA COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES MISSOURI ST. CHARLES COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES UTAH UTAH COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA PIMA COUNTY CALIFORNIA STANISLAUS COUNTY NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES WASHINGTON KITSAP COUNTY 55 40 ATTACHMENT E COUNTIES QUALIFIED THROUGH 2024 OR 2025 THAT CONTAIN NON-PARTICIPATING COMMUNITIES NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES CUMBERLAND COUNTY MAINE NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES ATLANTIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY WESTCHESTER COUNTY NEW YORK MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DAUPHIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LEHIGH COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES MOBILE COUNTY ALABAMA BREVARD COUNTY FLORIDA COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY FLORIDA MANATEE COUNTY FLORIDA MARION COUNTY FLORIDA PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA SARASOTA COUNTY FLORIDA ST. JOHNS COUNTY FLORIDA CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA GWINNETT COUNTY GEORGIA MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA UNION COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HORRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA 56 41 RICHLAND COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA SPARTANBURG COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS MCHENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA RAMSEY COUNTY MINNESOTA ST. LOUIS COUNTY MINNESOTA WASHINGTON COUNTY MINNESOTA BUTLER COUNTY OHIO DANE COUNTY WISCONSIN WAUKESHA COUNTY WISCONSIN SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES TULSA COUNTY OKLAHOMA BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS BRAZORIA COUNTY TEXAS FORT BEND COUNTY TEXAS MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEXAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY TEXAS GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES JEFFERSON COUNTY MISSOURI ST. CHARLES COUNTY MISSOURI ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES ARAPAHOE COUNTY COLORADO UTAH COUNTY UTAH PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES 57 42 PIMA COUNTY ARIZONA PINAL COUNTY ARIZONA MONTEREY COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES MULTNOMAH COUNTY OREGON KITSAP COUNTY WASHINGTON THURSTON COUNTY WASHINGTON 58 43 ATTACHMENT F LIST OF COUNTIES THAT MAY QUALIFY AS URBAN COUNTIES IF METROPOLITAN CITIES RELINQUISH THEIR STATUS State Name POP21 AL Madison County 395,211 AL Huntsville city (pt.) 212,359 AL Montgomery County 227,434 AL Montgomery city 198,665 AL Tuscaloosa County 227,007 AL Tuscaloosa city 100,618 AR Benton County 293,692 AR Bentonville city 56,734 AR Rogers city 71,112 AR Springdale city (pt.) 12,106 AR Pulaski County 397,821 AR Jacksonville city 29,305 AR Little Rock city 201,998 AR North Little Rock city 64,162 AR Washington County 250,057 AR Fayetteville city 95,230 AR Springdale city (pt.) 75,503 AZ Yavapai County 242,253 AZ Prescott city 46,833 AZ Yuma County 206,990 AZ Yuma city 97,093 CA Butte County 208,309 CA Chico city 102,338 CA Paradise town 5,268 CA Springdale city (pt.) 75,503 CA Merced County 286,461 CA Merced city 89,308 CA Placer County 412,300 CA Rocklin city 72,975 CA Roseville city 151,901 CA Santa Cruz County 267,792 CA Santa Cruz city 61,950 CA Watsonville city 52,067 59 44 State Name POP21 CA Solano County 451,716 CA Fairfield city 119,705 CA Vacaville city 103,078 CA Vallejo city 124,886 CA Yolo County 216,986 CA Davis city 66,799 CA West Sacramento city 53,637 CA Woodland city 61,398 CO Boulder County 329,543 CO Boulder city 104,175 CO Longmont city (pt.) 99,463 CO Larimer County 362,533 CO Fort Collins city 168,538 CO Loveland city 77,194 FL Alachua County 279,238 FL Gainesville city 140,398 FL Leon County 292,817 FL Tallahassee city 197,102 FL Okaloosa County 213,255 FL Crestview city 27,820 FL Fort Walton Beach city 20,879 FL St. Lucie County 343,579 FL Fort Pierce city 47,927 FL Port St. Lucie city 217,523 GA Chatham County 296,329 GA Savannah city 147,088 GA Hall County 207,369 GA Gainesville city 43,417 IA Linn County 228,939 IA Cedar Rapids city 136,467 ID Ada County 511,931 ID Boise City city 237,446 ID Meridian city 125,963 ID Canyon County 243,115 ID Caldwell city 63,629 ID Nampa city 106,186 IL Champaign County 205,943 IL Champaign city 89,114 IL Rantoul village 12,119 IL Urbana city 38,681 60 45 State Name POP21 IL Winnebago County 283,119 IL Rockford city (pt.) 147,711 IN Allen County 388,608 IN Fort Wayne city 265,974 IN Elkhart County 206,921 IN Elkhart city 53,949 IN Goshen city 34,756 IN St. Joseph County 272,212 IN Mishawaka city 51,074 IN South Bend city 103,353 KS Sedgwick County 523,828 KS Wichita city 395,699 LA Caddo Parish 233,092 LA Shreveport city (pt.) 181,146 LA Calcasieu Parish 205,282 LA Lake Charles city 81,097 ME York County 214,591 ME Biddeford city 22,569 MI Ingham County 284,034 MI East Lansing city (pt.) 44,417 MI Lansing city (pt.) 107,653 MI Kalamazoo County 261,108 MI Kalamazoo city 73,257 MI Portage city 48,844 MO Clay County 255,518 MO Kansas City city (pt.) 139,432 MO Greene County 300,865 MO Springfield city (pt.) 169,722 MO Jackson County 716,862 MO Blue Springs city 59,430 MO Independence city (pt.) 122,088 MO Kansas City city (pt.) 314,956 MO Lee's Summit city (pt.) 100,061 MS Harrison County 209,396 MS Biloxi city 49,241 MS Gulfport city 72,105 MS Hinds County 222,679 MS Jackson city (pt.) 149,387 NC Buncombe County 271,534 NC Asheville city 94,067 61 46 State Name POP21 NC Cabarrus County 231,278 NC Concord city 107,697 NC Kannapolis city (pt.) 43,875 NC Durham County 326,126 NC Chapel Hill town (pt.) 2,847 NC Durham city (pt.) 285,115 NC Raleigh city (pt.) 1,540 NC Forsyth County 385,523 NC High Point city (pt.) 80 NC Winston-Salem city 250,320 NC Gaston County 230,856 NC Gastonia city 81,161 NC Guilford County 542,410 NC Burlington city (pt.) 1,892 NC Greensboro city 298,263 NC High Point city (pt.) 107,265 NC New Hanover County 229,018 NC Wilmington city 117,643 NC Onslow County 206,160 NC Jacksonville city 72,876 NE Douglas County 585,008 NE Omaha city 487,300 NE Lancaster County 324,514 NE Lincoln city 292,657 NM Bernalillo County 674,393 NM Albuquerque city 562,599 NM Rio Rancho city (pt.) 5 NM Doña Ana County 221,508 NM Las Cruces city 112,914 NV Washoe County 493,392 NV Reno city 268,851 NV Sparks city 109,796 NY Niagara County 211,653 NY Niagara Falls city 48,360 NY Oneida County 230,274 NY Rome city 31,974 NY Utica city 64,501 OH Lorain County 315,595 OH Elyria city 52,816 OH Lorain city 65,430 62 47 State Name POP21 OH Lucas County 429,191 OH Toledo city 268,508 OH Mahoning County 226,762 OH Alliance city (pt.) 46 OH Youngstown city (pt.) 60,268 OH Trumbull County 201,335 OH Warren city 39,020 OH Youngstown city (pt.) 2 OK Cleveland County 297,597 OK Moore city 63,462 OK Norman city 128,097 OK Oklahoma City city (pt.) 78,976 OK Oklahoma County 798,575 OK Edmond city 95,341 OK Midwest City city 58,145 OK Oklahoma City city (pt.) 527,861 OR Deschutes County 204,801 OR Bend city 102,059 OR Redmond city 35,582 OR Jackson County 223,734 OR Ashland city 21,607 OR Medford city 86,367 OR Lane County 383,189 OR Eugene city 175,096 OR Springfield city 62,256 PA Erie County 269,011 PA Erie city 93,999 PA Lackawanna County 215,663 PA Scranton city 75,874 SC Anderson County 206,908 SC Anderson city 29,284 TN Hamilton County 369,135 TN Chattanooga city 182,113 TN Montgomery County 227,900 TN Clarksville city 170,957 TN Rutherford County 352,182 TN Murfreesboro city 157,519 TN Williamson County 255,735 TN Franklin city 85,469 63 48 State Name POP21 TX Bell County 379,617 TX Killeen city 156,261 TX Temple city 85,416 TX Brazos County 237,032 TX Bryan city 86,866 TX College Station city 120,019 TX Cameron County 423,029 TX Brownsville city 187,831 TX Harlingen city 71,925 TX San Benito city 24,780 TX El Paso County 867,947 TX El Paso city 678,415 TX Galveston County 355,062 TX Galveston city 53,219 TX League City city (pt.) 113,073 TX Texas City city (pt.) 54,247 TX Hays County 255,397 TX Austin city (pt.) 975 TX San Marcos city (pt.) 68,577 TX Jefferson County 253,704 TX Beaumont city 112,556 TX Port Arthur city (pt.) 55,645 TX Lubbock County 314,451 TX Lubbock city 260,993 TX McLennan County 263,115 TX Waco city 139,594 TX Nueces County 353,079 TX Corpus Christi city (pt.) 317,773 TX Smith County 237,186 TX Tyler city 107,192 TX Webb County 267,945 TX Laredo city 256,153 UT Weber County 267,066 UT Ogden city 86,798 WA Benton County 210,025 WA Kennewick city 84,488 WA Richland city 61,929 WA Whatcom County 228,831 WA Bellingham city 92,289 WA Yakima County 256,035 WA Yakima city 96,578 64 49 State Name POP21 WI Brown County 269,591 WI Green Bay city 107,015 65 50 ATTACHMENT G COUNTIES PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED AS ELIGIBLE BUT HAVE NOT ACCEPTED URBAN COUNTY STATUS NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES NEW HAMPSHIRE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ROCKINGHAM COUNTY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY OFFICES NEW YORK SARATOGA COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DELAWARE SUSSEX COUNTY MARYLAND FREDERICK COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA BALDWIN COUNTY SHELBY COUNTY FLORIDA HERNANDO COUNTY GEORGIA FORSYTH COUNTY TENNESSEE SUMNER COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES MICHIGAN OTTAWA COUNTY OHIO DELAWARE COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES TEXAS COLLIN COUNTY DENTON COUNTY ELLIS COUNTY 66 51 GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES IOWA POLK COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES UTAH DAVIS COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA MOHAVE COUNTY* CALIFORNIA TULARE COUNTY *Mohave County may only qualify as an urban county if the cities of Kingman and Lake Havasu both decide not to accept their entitlement status. 67 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Planning and Development Special Attention of: All Regional Administrators All CPD Division Directors All CDBG Grantees Notice: CPD-23-02 Issued: April 10, 2023 Expires: April 10, 2024 Supersedes: CPD Notice 22-07 SUBJECT: Instructions for Urban County Qualification for Participation in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2024-2026 INTRODUCTION This Notice establishes requirements, procedures, and deadlines to be followed in the urban county qualification process for FYs 2024-2026. Information concerning specific considerations and responsibilities for urban counties is also provided. HUD Field Offices and urban counties are expected to adhere to the deadlines in this Notice. This Notice provides guidance for counties wishing to qualify or requalify for entitlement status as urban counties, as well as for existing urban counties that wish to include previously nonparticipating communities. Please send copies of this Notice to all presently qualified urban counties, to each county that can qualify for the first time or requalify for FYs 2024- 2026, and to each state administering the State CDBG program which includes a potentially eligible urban county. If HUD Field Offices are notified later than the date of this Notice of one or more new potential urban counties, each should be provided a copy of this Notice. This Notice includes the following seven attachments, lettered A-G, that contain listings of: Attachment A, all currently qualified urban counties; Attachment B, counties that requalify this qualification period (2024-2026); Attachment C, counties scheduled to qualify or requalify in FY 2024 for FY 2025-2027; Attachment D, counties scheduled to qualify or requalify in FY 2025 for FY 2026-2028; Attachment E, currently qualified urban counties that can add nonparticipating units of government for the remaining one or two years of their qualification period; Attachment F, counties that may qualify as urban counties if metropolitan cities relinquish their status; and Attachment G, counties previously identified as eligible but that have not accepted urban county status. Additions to Attachment B may be provided separately, should any counties be identified as potentially eligible for the first time in July 2023. 68 The schedule for qualifying urban counties is coordinated with qualifying HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) consortia to be able to operate both the CDBG and HOME programs using the same urban county configurations. The CDBG urban county qualification process for the FY 2024-2026 qualification period will start in March 2023 and run through September 15, 2023. This will provide HUD sufficient time before the September 30th deadline for FY 2024 funding under the HOME Program to notify counties that they qualify as urban counties under the CDBG Program. This Notice emphasizes the importance of completing all the steps of the urban county qualification/ requalification process by mid-September to ensure that there is no detrimental effect on the HOME consortia qualification/requalification process. Urban county worksheets will be accessible via Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) Grants Management Process (GMP) system. The CPD Systems Development and Evaluation Division will provide GMP system guidance for submitting urban county qualification data. Section V.H., second paragraph, regarding Cooperation Agreements clearly delineates the fair housing and civil rights obligations to which urban counties and participating jurisdictions are subject. By this time, all existing urban counties should have incorporated the required language in their cooperation agreements regarding fair housing and civil rights obligations. Urban counties should review the language in their existing cooperation agreements regarding fair housing and civil rights obligations to determine whether they still need to revise their existing agreements. The use of automatically renewing cooperation agreements does not exempt existing urban counties from incorporating the required language in Section V.H. HUD will not accept any cooperation agreements or approve any urban county’s qualification/requalification that does not incorporate this language. Urban counties have the option of drafting a separate amendment to their existing agreements that includes these provisions rather than drafting a new cooperation agreement that contains the provisions. However, the separate amendment must still be executed by an official representative of each of the participating units of general local government and the urban county. Jurisdictions that are qualifying as an urban county for the first time must submit all required documents outlined in Section IV. to the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters in addition to their local HUD offices (see Section IV. for details). In addition, if new jurisdictions are seeking to qualify as urban counties because they contain metropolitan cities willing to relinquish their entitlement status, the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters should be notified as soon as possible, but no later than two weeks after the jurisdictions notify the Field Office of their intent to qualify as an urban county (see Section VIII. for details). A unit of general local government may not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of such funds to a metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local government, or Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or indirectly receives CDBG funds in exchange for any other funds, credits, or non-Federal considerations, but must use such funds for activities eligible under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. This 69 requirement first arose as a result of discovering that units of general local government located within an urban county were trading CDBG funds for unrestricted local funds. Congress has prohibited this practice. Urban counties qualifying in 2023 for FYs 2024-2026 must incorporate this provision into cooperation agreements by revision or amendment. HUD will not accept any cooperation agreements or approve any urban county’s qualification/requalification that does not incorporate this language. Section F., Section VIII., Special Considerations addresses the implications of an incorporated unit of general local government dissolving and the effect it will have on the urban county qualification/requalification process. Section G., Section VIII., Special Considerations addresses factors that arose during the 2017 qualification/requalification period regarding qualification of New York Towns as metropolitan cities. The coronavirus pandemic has affected the urban county qualification and requalification processes, in that all required correspondence and documents must be transmitted electronically. To avoid delays, HUD encourages urban counties to begin the qualification and requalification processes upon release of this Notice to meet the deadlines in Section II., Qualification Schedule. Section II identifies correspondence that must be submitted in letter format on the appropriate letterhead rather than by email. Any properly executed letter (i.e., in letter format on the appropriate letterhead) may be transmitted as an attachment via email. If a properly executed letter is required, the Notice shall denote such requirement by indicating that the correspondence or notification must be “by letter.” If not required, the Notice shall indicate that the correspondence or notification may be made “by letter or email.” Policy questions from Field Offices related to this Notice should be directed to Gloria Coates in the Entitlement Communities Division at (202) 402-2184 or gloria.l.coates@hud.gov. Data questions should be directed to Abubakari Zuberi in the Systems Development and Evaluation Division at (202) 708-0790 or abubakari.d.zuberi@hud.gov. Requests for deadline extensions should be directed to Gloria Coates. These are not toll-free numbers. The TTY number for both divisions is (202) 708-2565. The information collection requirements contained in this notice have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2506-0170, which expires January 31, 2025. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. 70 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................... 1 A. Threshold ................................................................................................................ 1 B. Consolidated Plan Requirements ............................................................................ 2 C. Consolidated Plan Requirements Where the Urban County Is in a HOME Consortium .............................................................................................................. 2 D. Synchronization of Urban County and HOME Qualification Periods.…………... 3 II. QUALIFICATION SCHEDULE ……………..………………...………….………….....3 III. QUALIFICATION ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY COUNTY……………………….....7 A. Cooperation Agreements/Amendments ...................................................................7 B. Notification of Opportunity to Be Excluded ............................................................8 C. Notification of Opportunity to Be Included… ..............................................……..8 D. Notification of Split Places ......................................................................................9 E. Notification of Opportunity to Terminate Agreement ...........................................10 IV. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO HUD ..............................................................10 V. COOPERATION AGREEMENTS……………………………….……………...…..….11 VI. PERIOD OF QUALIFICATION ...................................................................................... 15 A. General .................................................................................................................. 15 B. Retaining Urban County Classification ................................................................ 15 VII. URBAN COUNTY PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES .................................................. 16 VIII. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................................... 16 A. Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients ............................................... 16 B. Subrecipient Agreements ...................................................................................... 17 C. Ineligibility for State CDBG Program .................................................................. 18 D. Eligibility for a HOME Consortium. .................................................................... 18 E. Counties with Potential Metropolitan Cities ..........................................................18 F. Incorporated Unit of General Local Government Dissolution ............................ 19 G. Qualification of New York Towns as Metropolitan Cities …………………….. 20 IX. DETERMINATIONS OF ESSENTIAL POWERS ...………………………..………... 21 Attachment A – All Currently Qualified Urban Counties Attachment B – Counties Scheduled to Requalify in 2023 for FYs 2024-2026 Attachment C – Counties Scheduled to Requalify in 2024 for FYs 2025-2027 71 Attachment D – Counties Scheduled to Requalify in 2025 for FYs 2026-2028 Attachment E – Counties Qualified through 2024 or 2025 That Contain Non-Participating Communities Attachment F – Counties That May Qualify as Urban Counties if Metropolitan Cities Relinquish Their Status Attachment G – Counties Previously Identified as Eligible But That Have Not Accepted Urban County Status 72 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT URBAN COUNTY QUALIFICATION Fiscal Years 2024-2026 In accordance with 24 CFR § 570.307(a) of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) regulations, the information below explains the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) process for qualifying and requalifying urban counties for purposes of the CDBG program. I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS A. Threshold To be entitled to receive CDBG funds as an urban county, a county must qualify as an urban county under one of the following thresholds: 1. Have a total combined population of 200,000 or more (excluding metropolitan cities) from the unincorporated areas and participating incorporated areas; 2. Have a total combined population of at least 100,000 but fewer than 200,000 from the unincorporated areas and participating incorporated areas, provided that, in the aggregate, those areas include the majority of persons of low and moderate income that reside in the county (outside of any metropolitan cities). Under this provision, the county itself is still required to have a minimum population of 200,000 (excluding metropolitan cities) to be potentially eligible. However, the urban county does not have to include each unit of general local government located therein, provided that the number of persons in the areas where the county has essential powers and in units of general local government where it has signed cooperation agreements equals at least 100,000. In addition, those included areas must in the aggregate contain the preponderance of low- and moderate-income persons residing in the urban county (calculated by dividing the number of low- and moderate-income persons residing in the county by two and adding one). Metropolitan cities are not included in these calculations; or 3. Meet specific requirements of Sec. 102(a)(6)(C) or (D) of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (the Act). HUD must conduct a review to determine that a prospective urban county possesses essential community development and housing assistance powers in any unincorporated areas that are not units of general local government (UGLGs). HUD must also review all the UGLGs within the county to determine those, if any, in which the county lacks such powers. The county must enter into cooperation agreements with any such units of local government that are to become part of the urban county. Such agreements would bind an UGLG to cooperate in the use of its powers in carrying out essential activities in accordance with the urban county's program. See Section IX. for additional information on Determinations of Essential Powers. 73 2 B. Consolidated Plan Requirements To receive an Entitlement Grant in FY 2024, an urban county must have an approved Consolidated Plan (pursuant to 24 CFR § 570.302 and Part 91). This includes urban counties newly qualifying during this qualification period; urban counties that continue to include the same communities previously included in the urban county; and those urban counties that are amending their urban county configurations to add communities that chose not to participate previously. Where an urban county enters into a joint agreement with a metropolitan city for CDBG purposes, a Consolidated Plan is submitted by the urban county to cover both governmental entities for the CDBG program. Pursuant to 24 CFR part 91, submission of a jurisdiction's Consolidated Plan may occur no earlier than November 15, and no later than August 16, of the Program Year for which CDBG, HOME, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) funds are appropriated to cover the Federal fiscal period of October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. An urban county's failure to submit its Consolidated Plan by August 16, 2024, will automatically result in a loss of CDBG funds for the 2024 program year (24 CFR § 570.304(c)(1)) and termination of its qualification as an urban county (24 CFR § 570.307(f)) unless Congress extends this deadline via statute. The Consolidated Plan must meet all requirements of 24 CFR part 91, including all required certifications. C. Consolidated Plan Requirements Where the Urban County Is in a HOME Consortium Where UGLGs form a consortium to receive HOME funding, the consortium’s lead entity submits the Consolidated Plan for the entire geographic area encompassed by the consortium (24 CFR § 91.400). Therefore, if an urban county is a member of a HOME consortium, the consortium submits the Consolidated Plan, and the urban county, like all other CDBG entitlement grantees in the consortium, is only required to submit its own non-housing Community Development Plan (24 CFR § 91.215(f)), an Action Plan (24 CFR § 91.220) and the required Certifications (24 CFR § 91.225(a) and (b) as part of the consortium's Consolidated Plan. If an urban county has a CDBG joint agreement with a metropolitan city and both jurisdictions wish to receive HOME funds, they must form a HOME consortium to become one entity for HOME purposes. [For additional information on the requirements for consortia agreements, see 24 CFR § 92.101 and the Notice of Procedures for Designation of Consortia as a Participating Jurisdiction for the HOME Program (CPD-13-002).] Although an urban county as a member of a HOME consortium is only required to submit its own non-housing Community Development Plan, Action Plan and required certifications, the program responsibilities as stated in Section VII. of this Notice are important regardless of whether the urban county is a member of a consortium. In this regard and considering the requirement to submit its own affirmatively furthering fair housing certification per 24 CFR 91.225, an urban county is encouraged to work with the lead entity for the consortium in developing and seeing to the submission of a Consolidated Plan that reflects fair housing strategies and actions. 74 3 However, if the urban county is the lead entity rather than simply a participant in the HOME consortium, the urban county must submit the housing and homeless needs assessment, market analysis, strategic plan, and Action Plan on behalf of the consortium. The urban county and other entitlement communities that are members of the consortium must separately submit the certifications required at 24 CFR 91.225(a) & (b). D. Synchronization of Urban County and HOME Qualification Periods CDBG urban counties and HOME consortia qualification periods are for three successive years. If a member urban county's CDBG three-year cycle is not the same as the HOME consortium's, the HOME consortium may elect a qualification period shorter than three years to get in sync with the urban county's CDBG three-year qualification cycle, as permitted in 24 CFR § 92.101(e). All consortium members must also have the same program year start date. Urban counties have requested extensions until the middle to end of September to submit all required documents to the HUD Field Office because some of the governing bodies of units of government in urban counties do not meet during the summer months. When there are automatically renewing cooperation agreements, the urban county must submit a legal opinion from the county’s counsel that the terms and provisions continue to be authorized under state and local law and that the agreement continues to provide full legal authority for the county. Copies of any executed amendments to automatically renewed cooperation agreements (if any) and, if locally required, governing body authorizations must also be submitted. Although flexibility exists to permit extensions in unusual situations, Headquarters will not grant any extensions past mid-September. Urban counties must factor in instances such as the meeting schedules of elected bodies of units of general local government while completing the requalification process, perhaps by submitting the cooperation agreement for execution before the summer recess begins. There are urban counties that are also completing the qualification/requalification process for HOME consortia at the same time they are completing the urban county qualification/requalification process. The qualification/requalification process for HOME consortia must be completed by the statutory deadline of September 30 for a HOME consortium to receive a formula allocation under HOME. If the urban county qualification/requalification process has not been completed by September 30, the consortium will not receive a HOME grant. To prevent this, all required documents must be received by HUD Field Offices by mid- September. This will allow Field Counsel time to review the cooperation agreements or amendments for legal sufficiency. II. QUALIFICATION SCHEDULE The following schedule will govern the procedures for urban county qualification for the three-year qualification cycle of FYs 2024-2026. Unless noted otherwise, deadlines may only be 75 4 extended by prior written authorization from Headquarters. Deadlines in paragraphs D., E., G., and I. may be extended by the Field Office as specified below. However, no extension may be granted by the Field Office if it would have the effect of extending a subsequent deadline that the Field Office is not authorized to extend. A. By May 5, 2023, the HUD Field Office shall notify counties that may seek to qualify or requalify as an urban county of HUD's Determination of Essential Powers (see Section IX) as certified by the Field Office Counsel (see Attachment B, Counties Scheduled to Qualify or Requalify in 2023 for the 2024-2026 Qualification Period). B. By May 5, 2023, counties must notify, by letter, split places of their options for exclusion from, or participation in, the urban county (see Attachment B and Section III., paragraph D, for an explanation of split places). C. By May 5, 2023, counties must notify, by letter, each included unit of general local government, where the county is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities without the consent of the governing body of the locality, of its right to elect to be excluded from the urban county, and the date by which it must make such election by letter (see paragraph E., below). HUD recommends that included units of government be advised that failure to respond means that they will be considered part of the urban county for FYs 2024-2026. Included units of government must also be notified that they are not eligible to apply for grants under the State CDBG program while they are part of the urban county. Additionally, that, in becoming a part of the urban county, they automatically participate in the HOME and ESG programs if the urban county receives HOME and ESG funding, respectively. Moreover, while units of general local government may only receive a formula allocation under the HOME and ESG programs as part of the urban county, this does not preclude the urban county, or a unit of government participating with the urban county, from applying for HOME or ESG funds from the State, if the State allows. D. Section 854(c) of the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act was amended by the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) to preserve the continued eligibility of FY 2016 HOPWA formula grantees, including Wake County, North Carolina, which is the HOPWA grantee for the Raleigh, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Wake County is the only urban county that receives a HOPWA formula award from HUD under this arrangement. HOTMA also amended section 854(c) to allow a HOPWA formula grantee to enter into an agreement with an eligible alternative grantee, including a unit of general local government (which includes a county), to receive and administer the HOPWA formula allocation in its place. More information is available in Notice CPD-17-12, available at: https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Notice-CPD-17-12- Implementation-of-HOTMA-Changes-to-the-HOPWA-Program.pdf A county that is already qualified as an urban county for FY 2024 (see Attachment E, Counties Qualified through 2024 or 2025 that Contain Nonparticipating Communities) may 76 5 elect to notify, by letter, nonparticipating units of government that they now have an opportunity to join the urban county for the remainder of the urban county's qualification period (see paragraph H., below). E. By June 12, 2023, any county which has executed cooperation agreements with no specified end date is required to notify, by letter, affected participating units of government that the agreement will automatically be renewed unless the unit of government notifies the county by letter by July 7, 2023, (see paragraph F., below) of its intent to terminate the agreement at the end of the current qualification period (see Attachment B). A failure by a unit of government to respond by the July 7, 2023, deadline means that the unit of government is required to remain with the urban county for FYs 2024-2026. Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter or email by the Field Office. An extension of more than seven days requires the Field Office to notify the Entitlement Communities Division by email or telephone. F. By June 12, 2023, any included unit of general local government, where the county does not need the consent of its governing body to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities, that elects to be excluded from an urban county must notify the county and its HUD Field Office, by letter, that it elects to be excluded. Potential new entitlement cities are identified by the Census Bureau on or around July 1. Any unit of general local government that met metropolitan city status for the first time in a requalifying urban county will be given additional time to decide whether it wants to be included or excluded since it will be notified of its status after the July 21 deadline (see Section VIII.E.). Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter or email by the Field Office. An extension of more than seven days requires the Field Office to notify the Entitlement Communities Division by email or telephone. G. By July7, 2023, any unit of government that has entered into a cooperation agreement with no specified end date with the county and elects not to continue participating with the county during the FY 2024-2026 qualification period must notify the county and its HUD Field Office by letter that it is terminating the agreement at the end of the current period. The county may allow additional time provided any such extension does not interfere with the county's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph J, below. H. By July 7, 2023, any unit of general local government that meets "metropolitan city" status for the first time and wishes to defer such status and remain part of the county, or to accept such status and become a joint recipient with the urban county, must notify the county and the HUD Field Office by letter that it elects to defer its metropolitan city status or to accept its status and join with the urban county in a joint agreement. Any metropolitan city that had deferred its status previously or had accepted its status and entered into a joint agreement with the urban county and wishes to maintain the same relationship with the county for this next qualification period, must notify the county and the HUD Field Office by letter by this date. Any unit of general local government that meets metropolitan city status for the first time and is notified in early July by HUD thereof will have until August 18, 2023, to comply 77 6 with the requirements of this paragraph. A potential metropolitan city that chooses to accept its entitlement status but chooses not to enter into a joint agreement with the urban county, or a current metropolitan city that chooses not to maintain a joint agreement with the urban county, must also notify the urban county and the HUD Field Office by letter by July 28, 2023. Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter by the Field Office. An extension of more than seven days requires the Field Office to notify the Entitlement Communities Division by email or telephone. I. By July 14, 2023, any unit of general local government that is not currently participating in an urban county and chooses to participate for the remaining second or third year of the county's qualification period must notify the county and the HUD Field Office by letter that it elects to be included. The county may allow additional time provided any such extension does not interfere with the county's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph J, below. J. By July 28, 2023, HUD Field Offices must notify CPD’s Systems Development and Evaluation Division via e-mail (Abubakari.D.Zuberi@hud.gov) whether cities that are already identified as potentially eligible metropolitan cities elect to defer or accept their status. For units of general local government that meet metropolitan city status for the first time and are notified in early July thereof (as discussed in paragraph H., above), they must elect to defer or accept their status by August 18, 2023. For units of general local government notified in early July of their status as potential new metropolitan cities, Field Offices have until September 8, 2023, to notify the Systems Development and Evaluation Division of their decisions. K. By August 4, 2023, any county seeking to qualify as an urban county (see Attachment B) or to include any previously nonparticipating units of general local government into its configuration (see Attachment E) must submit to the appropriate HUD Field Office all qualification documentation described in Section IV., Documents to be Submitted to HUD. Any extension of this deadline must be authorized by letter or email by the Field Office and should not interfere with the Field Office's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph N. The Entitlement Communities Division and Field Counsel must be notified by email or telephone if an extension of more than seven days is needed. For HOME program purposes, the urban county configurations are final as of September 30 of every year. The HOME deadline is statutory and cannot be extended. L. By August 25, 2023, Field Office Counsel should complete the reviews of all cooperation agreements and related authorizations and certify that each cooperation agreement meets the requirements of Section V, Cooperation Agreements. Any delay in completion of the review must not interfere with the Field Office's ability to meet the deadline in paragraph N. The Entitlement Communities Division should be notified by email or telephone of any delay in the Field Counsel's review. Note: If a county is using a renewable agreement and has submitted a legal opinion that the terms and conditions of the agreement continue to be authorized (see Section IV., paragraph E.), review of such opinion by Field Office Counsel is optional. However, Field Counsel must review the agreement to ensure that 78 7 any new requirements implemented by statute or regulation are incorporated into the agreement or added by an amendment to the agreement. M. During July, Headquarters will post the urban county worksheets for each qualifying and requalifying urban county (listed on Attachment B) on the CPD Grants Management Process (GMP) system. All information on included units of government must be completed via GMP. Specific instructions for completing these electronic worksheets will be provided by the CPD Systems Development and Evaluation Division at the time they are posted on GMP. N. By August 25, 2023, Field Offices shall update and complete the form electronically for each qualifying or requalifying county. The revised worksheet must be sent to the appropriate county for verification of data (via FAX, email, or regular mail). The Systems Development and Evaluation Division will have access to the completed worksheets in GMP. Field Offices shall also concurrently make available to the Systems Development and Evaluation Division (and each affected urban county) a memorandum that identifies any urban county already qualified for FY 2024 that is adding any new units of government, together with the names of the newly included units of government (see Attachment E). THIS DEADLINE MAY NOT BE EXTENDED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION FROM THE ENTITLEMENT COMMUNITIES DIVISION. O. By September 8, 2023 (or soon thereafter), Headquarters will complete its review of the urban county status worksheets and memoranda for those urban counties adding new units of government. The Field Offices will have access to the updated worksheets and, if necessary, an indication from Headquarters of any apparent discrepancies, problems, or questions – all noted in GMP. The Field Office is to verify the data in the GMP Final Report and notify the Systems Development and Evaluation Division within seven days if any problems exist. If there are no problems, Field Offices will notify, by letter, each county seeking to qualify as an urban county of its urban county status for FY 2024-2026 by September 22, 2023. III. QUALIFICATION ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY COUNTY The following actions are to be taken by the urban county: A. Cooperation Agreements/Amendments Urban counties that must enter into cooperation agreements or amendments, as appropriate, with the units of general local government located in whole or in part within the county, must submit to HUD executed cooperation agreements, together with evidence of authorization by the governing bodies of both parties (county and UGLG) executed by the proper officials (see Section V., Cooperation Agreements, paragraph A.) in sufficient time to meet the deadline for submission indicated in the schedule in Section II. (cooperation agreements must meet the standards in Section V. of this Notice). 79 8 Where urban counties do not have the authority to carry out essential community development and housing activities without the consent of the unit(s) of general local government located therein, urban counties are required to have executed cooperation agreements with these units of government that elect to participate in the urban counties’ CDBG programs. B. Notification of Opportunity to Be Excluded Units of general local government in which counties have authority to carry out essential community development and housing activities without the consent of the local governing body are automatically included in the urban county unless they elect to be excluded at the time of qualification or requalification. Any county that has such units of general local government must notify each such unit that it may elect to be excluded from the urban county. The unit of government must be notified: 1. That if it chooses to remain with the urban county, it is ineligible to apply for grants under the State CDBG program while it is part of the urban county; 2. That if it chooses to remain with the urban county, it is also a participant in the HOME program if the urban county receives HOME funding and may only receive a formula allocation under the HOME Program as a part of the urban county, although this does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government within the urban county from applying to the State for HOME funds, if the State allows; 3. That if it chooses to remain with the urban county, it is also a participant in the ESG program if the urban county receives ESG funding and may only receive a formula allocation under the ESG Program as a part of the urban county, although this does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government within the urban county from applying to the State for ESG funds, if the State allows; 4. That if it chooses to be excluded from the urban county, it must notify both the county and the HUD Field Office of its election to be excluded by the date specified in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph E.; and 5. That such election to be excluded will be effective for the entire three-year period for which the urban county qualifies unless the excluded unit specifically elects to be included in a subsequent year for the remainder of the urban county's three-year qualification period. C. Notification of Opportunity to Be Included If a currently qualified urban county has one or more nonparticipating units of general local government (see Attachment E), the county may notify, by letter, any such unit of local government during the second or third year of the qualification period that the local 80 9 government has the opportunity to be included for the remaining period of urban county qualification. This written notification must include the deadline for such election and must state that the unit of general local government must notify the county and the HUD Field Office, by letter, of its official decision to be included. If cooperation agreements are necessary, the unit electing to be included in the county for the remainder of the qualification period must also execute, with the county, a cooperation agreement meeting the standards in Section V., Cooperation Agreements. The agreement must be received by the HUD Field Office by the date specified in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph K. D. Notification of Split Places Counties seeking qualification as urban counties and having units of general local government with any population located only partly within the county must notify these units of their rights by the date provided in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph B. Specifically, the county must provide the following notifications: 1. Where a split place is partly located within only one urban county, one of the following rules applies: a. If it is a split place in which the county has essential powers, the entire area of the split place will be included in the urban county for the urban county qualification period unless the split place has opted out; or b. If the split place can only be included in the county upon the execution of a cooperation agreement, the entire area of the split place will be included in the urban county for the urban county qualification period upon execution of such an agreement. 2. Where the split place is partially located within two or more urban counties, the split place may elect one of the following: a. to be excluded from all urban counties; b. to be entirely included in one urban county and excluded from all other such counties; or c. to participate as a part of more than one of the urban counties in which it is partially located provided that a single portion of the split place cannot be included in more than one entitled urban county at a time, and all parts of the split place are included in one of the urban counties. 81 10 E. Notification of Opportunity to Terminate Agreement Urban counties that have agreements that will be automatically renewed at the end of the current qualification period unless action is taken by the unit of government to terminate the agreement must, by the date provided in Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph E, notify such units that they can terminate the agreement and not participate during the 2024-2026 qualification period. IV. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO HUD Any county seeking to qualify as an urban county for FY 2024-2026 or that wishes to exercise its option to include units of government that are not currently in the urban county's CDBG program must submit the following to the responsible HUD Field Office: A. A copy of the letter that notified applicable units of general local government (and a list of applicable units of government) of their right to decide to be excluded from the urban county along with a copy of letters submitted to the county from any such units of general local government requesting exclusion (see Section III., Qualification Actions to Be Taken by County, paragraph B.). This does not apply to an already qualified urban county adding communities. B. A copy of the letter from any unit of general local government joining an already qualified county that officially notifies the county of its election to be included (see Section III. paragraph C.). C. Where applicable, a copy of the letter from: 1. Any city that may newly qualify as a metropolitan city but seeks to defer that status; 2. Any city currently deferring metropolitan city status that seeks to continue to defer such status; 3. Any city accepting metropolitan city status stating that it will enter into a joint agreement with the urban county and a letter from the county affirming its willingness to enter into a joint agreement with that city; or 4. Any city accepting metropolitan city status that will cease participation in the urban county’s CDBG program (See Section II., Qualification Schedule, paragraph G.). D. For a county that has cooperation agreements in effect that provide for automatic renewal, a copy of the letter sent by the county that notified affected units of government that the agreement will be renewed unless the county is notified by the unit of government to 82 11 terminate the agreement, and a copy of any such letter from any unit(s) of government requesting termination (see Section III., paragraph E.). E. Where applicable, copies of fully executed cooperation agreements, amended agreements, or stand-alone amendments between the county and its included units of general local government, including any cooperation agreements from applicable units of general local government covered under Section III., Qualification Actions to be Taken by County, paragraph C., and the opinions of county counsel and governing body authorizations required in Section V., Cooperation Agreements, paragraphs B. and C. For a county that has cooperation agreements in effect that provide for automatic renewal of the urban county qualification period as provided under Section V., Cooperation Agreements, paragraph E., at the time of such automatic renewal, the documents to be submitted are: (1) a legal opinion from the county’s counsel that the terms and provisions continue to be authorized under state and local law and that the agreement continues to provide full legal authority for the county; (2) copies of any executed amendments to automatically renewed cooperation agreements (if any); and, (3) if locally required, governing body authorizations. F. Any joint request(s) for inclusion of a metropolitan city as a part of the urban county as permitted by Section VIII., paragraph A., Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients, along with a copy of the required cooperation agreement(s). If either the urban county or the metropolitan city falls under the "exception criteria" at 24 CFR § 570.208(a)(1)(ii) for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income residents of an area, the urban county must notify, by letter, the metropolitan city of the potential effects of such joint agreements on such activities. See Section VIII., paragraph A., for further clarification. All jurisdictions seeking to qualify as an urban county for the first time must ensure that all documents outlined in this Section that are submitted to the HUD Field Office are also submitted to the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters for review. The original documents should be submitted to the HUD Field Office and the copies to HUD Headquarters. V. COOPERATION AGREEMENTS All cooperation agreements must meet the following standards to be found acceptable: A. The governing body of the county and the governing body of the cooperating unit of general local government shall authorize the agreement and the chief executive officer of each unit of general local government shall execute the agreement. B. The agreement must contain, or be accompanied by, a legal opinion from the county's counsel that the terms and provisions of the agreement are fully authorized under State and local law and that the agreement provides full legal authority for the county. Where the 83 12 county does not have such authority, the legal opinion must state that the participating unit of general local government has the authority to undertake, or assist in undertaking, essential community renewal and lower income housing assistance activities. A mere certification by the county's counsel that the agreement is approved as to form is insufficient and unacceptable. C. The agreement must state that the agreement covers the CDBG Entitlement program and, where applicable, the HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Programs (i.e., where the urban county receives funding under the ESG program or receives funding under the HOME program as an urban county or as a member of a HOME consortium). D. The agreement must state that, by executing the CDBG cooperation agreement, the included unit of general local government understands that it: 1. May not apply for grants from appropriations under the State CDBG Program for fiscal years during the period in which it participates in the urban county's CDBG program; 2. May receive a formula allocation under the HOME Program only through the urban county. Thus, even if the urban county does not receive a HOME formula allocation, the participating unit of local government cannot form a HOME consortium with other local governments. (Note: This does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government participating with the urban county from applying to the State for HOME funds if the state allows. An existing renewable agreement need not be amended to add this Note. It is included here only for purposes of clarification.); and 3. May receive a formula allocation under the ESG Program only through the urban county. (Note: This does not preclude the urban county or a unit of general local government participating with the urban county from applying to the State for ESG funds if the state allows. An existing renewable agreement need not be amended to add this Note. It is included here only for purposes of clarification.) E. The agreement must specify the three years covered by the urban county qualification period (e.g., Federal FYs 2024-2026), for which the urban county is to qualify to receive CDBG entitlement funding or, where applicable, specify the remaining one or two years of an existing urban county's qualification period. At the option of the county, the agreement may provide that it will automatically be renewed for participation in successive three-year qualification periods, unless the county or the participating unit of general local government provides written notice it elects not to participate in a new qualification period. A copy of that notice must be sent to the HUD Field Office. Where such agreements are used, the agreement must state that, by the date specified in HUD's urban county qualification notice for the next qualification period, the urban county will notify the participating unit of general local government by letter of its right not to 84 13 participate. A copy of the county's notification to the jurisdiction must be sent to the HUD Field Office by the date specified in the urban county qualification schedule in Section II. F. Cooperation agreements with automatic renewal provisions must include a stipulation that requires each party to adopt any amendment to the agreement incorporating changes necessary to meet the requirements for cooperation agreements set forth in an Urban County Qualification Notice applicable for a subsequent three-year urban county qualification period, and to submit such amendment to HUD as provided in the urban county qualification notice (see Section IV., Documents to be Submitted to HUD, paragraph E.), and that such failure to comply will void the automatic renewal for such qualification period. G. The agreement must provide that it remains in effect until the CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) funds and program income received (with respect to activities carried out during the three-year qualification period, and any successive qualification periods under agreements that provide for automatic renewals) are expended and the funded activities completed, and that the county and participating unit of general local government cannot terminate or withdraw from the cooperation agreement while it remains in effect. H. The agreement must expressly state that the county and the cooperating unit of general local government agree to cooperate to undertake, or assist in undertaking, community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. If the county does not have such powers, the agreement must expressly state that the cooperating unit of general local government agrees to "undertake, or assist in undertaking, community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities." As an alternative to this wording, the cooperation agreement may reference State legislation authorizing such activities, but only with the approval of the specific alternative wording by HUD Field Counsel. The agreement must contain an explicit provision obligating the county and the cooperating units of general local government to take all actions necessary to assure compliance with the urban county's certification under section 104(b) of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, that the grant will be conducted and administered in conformity with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 1, and the Fair Housing Act, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 100, and will affirmatively further fair housing. See 24 CFR § 91.225(a) and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Definitions and Certifications (86 FR 30779, June 10, 2021), to be codified at 24 CFR 5.151 and 5.152, available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/10/2021-12114/restoring-affirmatively- furthering-fair-housing-definitions-and-certifications.The provision must also include the obligation to comply with section 109 of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 6, which incorporates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 8, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the implementing regulations at 28 CFR part 35, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the 85 14 implementing regulation at 24 CFR part 146, and Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. The provision must also include the obligation to comply with other applicable laws. The agreement shall also contain a provision prohibiting urban county funding for activities in, or in support of, any cooperating unit of general local government that does not affirmatively further fair housing within its own jurisdiction or that impedes the county's actions to comply with the county's fair housing certification. This provision is required because noncompliance by a unit of general local government included in an urban county may constitute noncompliance by the grantee (i.e., the urban county) that can, in turn, provide cause for funding sanctions or other remedial actions by the Department. The agreement must include the obligation to sign the assurances and certifications in the HUD 424-B. Periodically, statutory, or regulatory changes may require urban counties to amend their agreements to add the new provision(s). Urban counties may draft a separate amendment to their existing agreements that includes the new provision(s) rather than drafting a new cooperation agreement that contains the new provisions. However, the separate amendment must be executed by an official representative of each of the participating units of general local government and the urban county. I. The agreement must expressly state that the cooperating unit of general local government has adopted and is enforcing: 1. A policy prohibiting the use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies within its jurisdiction against any individuals engaged in non-violent civil rights demonstrations; and 2. A policy of enforcing applicable State and local laws against physically barring entrance to or exit from a facility or location which is the subject of such non-violent civil rights demonstrations within jurisdictions. J. The agreement may not contain a provision for veto or other restriction that would allow any party to the agreement to obstruct the implementation of the approved Consolidated Plan during the period covered by the agreement. The county has final responsibility for selecting CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) activities and submitting the Consolidated Plan to HUD. If the county is a member of a HOME consortium, however, the consortium submits the Plan developed by the county (see Section I., General Requirements, paragraph C.). K. The agreement must contain language specifying that, pursuant to 24 CFR § 570.501(b), the unit of local government is subject to the same requirements applicable to subrecipients, including the requirement of a written agreement as described in 24 CFR § 570.503 (see Section VIII., Special Considerations, paragraph B.). 86 15 L. A county may also include in the cooperation agreement any provisions authorized by State and local laws that legally obligate the cooperating units to undertake the necessary actions, as determined by the county, to carry out a community development program and the approved Consolidated Plan and/or meet other requirements of the CDBG (and, where applicable, HOME and ESG) program and other applicable laws. M. The county must also include a provision in the cooperation agreement that a unit of general local government may not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of such funds to another such metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local government, or Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or indirectly receives CDBG funds in exchange for any other funds, credits or non-Federal considerations, but must use such funds for activities eligible under Title I of the Act. Urban counties requalifying in 2023 for FYs 2024-2026 must incorporate this language into cooperation agreements by revision or amendment. VI. PERIOD OF QUALIFICATION A. General Any county that qualifies as an urban county will be entitled to receive funds as an urban county for three consecutive fiscal years regardless of changes in its population or boundary or population changes in any communities contained within the urban county during that period, provided funds are appropriated by Congress and the county submits its annual Action Plan by August 16 of each year. However, during the period of qualification, no included unit of general local government may withdraw from the urban county unless the urban county does not receive a grant for any year during such period. The urban county's grant amount is calculated annually and will reflect the addition of any new units of general local government during the second and third years of the period of qualification. Any unincorporated portion of the county that incorporates during the urban county qualification period will remain part of the urban county through the end of the three-year period. Any unit of general local government that is part of an urban county will continue to be included in the urban county for that county's qualification period, even if it meets the criteria to be considered a “metropolitan city” during that period. Such an included unit of general local government cannot become eligible for a separate entitlement grant as a metropolitan city while participating as a part of an urban county (see Section VIII paragraph E). B. Retaining Urban County Classification Any county classified as an urban county in FY 1999 may, at the option of the county, retain 87 16 its classification as an urban county. Any county that became classified as an urban county in FY 2000 or later and was so classified for at least two years will retain its classification as an urban county, unless the urban county qualified under section 102(a)(6)(A) of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, and fails to requalify under that section due to the election of a currently participating non-entitlement community to opt out or not to renew a cooperation agreement (for reasons other than becoming an eligible metropolitan city). VII. URBAN COUNTY PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES The county, as the CDBG grant recipient, either for the urban county or a joint recipient (see Section VIII, paragraph A., Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients) has full responsibility for the execution of the community development program, for following its Consolidated Plan, and for complying with laws and requirements applicable to the CDBG program. The county's responsibility must include these functions even where, as a matter of administrative convenience or State law, the county permits the participating units of general local government to carry out essential community development and housing assistance activities. The county will be held accountable for the accomplishment of the community development program, for following its Consolidated Plan, and for ensuring that actions necessary for such accomplishment are taken by cooperating units of general local government. VIII. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS A. Metropolitan City/Urban County Joint Recipients Any urban county and any metropolitan city located in whole or in part within that county can ask HUD to approve the inclusion of the metropolitan city as a part of the urban county for purposes of planning and implementing a joint community development and housing assistance program. HUD will consider approving a joint request only if it is signed by the chief executive officers of both entities and is submitted at the time the county is seeking its qualification as an urban county. A joint request will be deemed approved unless HUD notifies the city and the county otherwise within 30 days following submission of the joint request and an executed cooperation agreement meeting the requirements specified under Section V., Cooperation Agreements. An urban county may be joined by more than one metropolitan city, but a metropolitan city located in more than one urban county may be a joint recipient with only one urban county at a time. Upon urban county qualification and HUD approval of the joint request, the metropolitan city becomes a part of the urban county for purposes of program planning and implementation for the entire period of the urban county qualification and will be treated by HUD as any other unit of general local government that is a part of the urban county. When a metropolitan city joins an urban county in this manner, the grant amount is the sum of the 88 17 amounts authorized for the individual metropolitan city and urban county. The urban county becomes the grant recipient. A metropolitan city in a joint agreement with the urban county is treated the same as any other unit of general local government that is part of the urban county for purposes of the CDBG program, but not for the HOME or ESG programs. If the metropolitan city does not qualify to receive a separate allocation of HOME funds, to be considered for HOME funding as part of the urban county, it may form a HOME consortium with the urban county. If the metropolitan city qualifies to receive a separate allocation of HOME funds, it has two options: (1) it may form a HOME consortium with the county, in which case it will be included as part of the county when the HOME funds for the county are calculated; or (2) the metropolitan city may administer its HOME program on its own. NOTE: The execution of a CDBG joint agreement between an urban county and metropolitan city does not in itself satisfy HOME requirements for a written consortia agreement. For additional information on the requirements for consortia agreements, see 24 CFR 92.101 and the Notice of Procedures for Designation of Consortia as a Participating Jurisdiction for the HOME Program (CPD-13-002). The ESG program does provide for joint agreements among certain grantees; however, there are separate requirements that apply to those joint agreements. A metropolitan city and an urban county that each receive an allocation under ESG and are located within a geographic area that is covered by a single Continuum of Care (CoC) may jointly request the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to permit the urban county or the metropolitan city, as agreed to by such county and city, to receive and administer their combined allocations under a single grant. For more information about joint agreements for the ESG program, contact Marlisa Grogan at 603-666-7510, Ext. 3049 or Marlisa.M.Grogan@hud.gov. The TTY number is 603-666-3805. These are not toll-free numbers. Counties and metropolitan cities considering a joint request should be aware that significant effects could occur where either the urban county or the metropolitan city would otherwise fall under the exception rule criteria for activities that benefit low-and moderate-income residents on an area basis (see 24 CFR 570.208(a)(1)(ii)). Joint agreements result in a modification to an urban county's configuration, and a change in the mix of census block groups in an urban county is likely to change the relative ranking of specific block groups by quartile, thus affecting the minimum concentration of low- and moderate-income persons under the exception rule. HUD will make a rank-ordering computer run available to counties and metropolitan cities considering joint participation to assist them in determining the possible effects of inclusion and how such an agreement may impact their respective programs. B. Subrecipient Agreements The execution of cooperation agreements meeting the requirements of Section V., Cooperation Agreements, between an urban county and its participating units of local 89 18 government does not in itself satisfy the requirement for a written subrecipient agreement required by the regulations at 24 CFR 570.503. Where a participating unit of general local government carries out an eligible activity funded by the urban county, the urban county is responsible, prior to disbursing any CDBG funds for any such activity or project, for executing a written subrecipient agreement with the unit of government containing the minimum requirements found at 24 § CFR 570.503. The subrecipient agreement must remain in effect during any period that the unit of local government has control over CDBG funds, including program income. C. Ineligibility for State CDBG Program An urban county's included units of general local government are ineligible to apply for grants from appropriations under the State CDBG Program for fiscal years during the period in which the units of general local government are participating in the Entitlement CDBG program with the urban county. D. Eligibility for a HOME Consortium When included units of local government become part of an urban county for the CDBG Program, they are part of the urban county for the HOME Program and may receive HOME funds only as part of the urban county or from the State. Thus, even if the urban county does not receive a HOME formula allocation, the participating unit of local government cannot form a HOME consortium with other local governments. This does not preclude the urban county or a unit of government within an urban county from applying to the State for HOME funds if the State allows. However, a unit of local government that chooses to opt out of the urban county may become part of a HOME consortium by signing the HOME consortium agreement. A unit of local government that is partially located in two counties with at least one of those counties being a member of a consortium may participate in the consortium. If the county is an urban county, the unit of local government may only participate as a member of the urban county. E. Counties with Potential Metropolitan Cities If a county includes a unit of general local government that believes its population meets the statutory threshold to enable it to receive CDBG entitlement funds as a metropolitan city directly, but the city and county have not yet received notification from HUD regarding metropolitan city eligibility, HUD has identified two options a county may use to address such situations: 1. The county and community can negotiate a schedule that will provide the community additional time to receive notification from HUD of its eligibility as a potential new metropolitan city and, if the community does not reach metropolitan city status (or 90 19 becomes eligible and elects to defer its status), execute a cooperation agreement and still meet the deadlines identified in this Notice; or 2. If a county believes delaying the execution of a cooperation agreement until HUD provides such notification will prohibit it from meeting the submission deadlines in this Notice, the county may want to include a clause in the agreement that provides that the agreement will be voided if the community is advised by HUD, prior to the completion of the requalification process for FYs 2024-2026, that it is eligible to become a metropolitan city and the community elects to take its entitlement status. If such a clause is used, it must state that if the agreement is not voided based on the community’s eligibility as a metropolitan city prior to July 28, 2023 (or a later date if approved by letter or email by HUD), the community must remain a part of the county for the entire three-year period of the county’s qualification. Option 1 above is preferred. Option 2 is available if a county wishes to use it, although there is concern that a community may believe that the use of a clause that may void the agreement will enable it to opt out later in the three-year period of qualification if it reaches the population during that time to be a metropolitan city. Therefore, any such clause must be clear that it applies only for a limited period of time. There are jurisdictions that may potentially qualify as urban counties for the first time because they contain one or more metropolitan cities that may consider relinquishing their status as entitlement grantees. If a county has a metropolitan city or cities that are willing to relinquish its/their status as entitlement grantee(s) and the county wants to begin the process of qualifying as an urban county, the Entitlement Communities Division in HUD Headquarters should be notified as soon as possible, but no later than two weeks after the county notifies the Field Office of its intent to qualify as an urban county. A list of these counties is provided as Attachment F. F. Incorporated Unit of General Local Government Dissolution A unit of general local government located in an urban county may unincorporate or dissolve or merge with another unit of general local government. Assuming the urban county possesses essential community development and housing assistance powers, the dissolved unit of general local government will automatically be considered as part of the urban county for CDBG program purposes. If the dissolved unit of government merges into another unit of general local government that already participates in the urban county, then the newly expanded unit of government will be a participant in the urban county’s CDBG program. The cooperation agreement between the urban county and the expanded unit of general local government will need to be submitted to the Field Office for Field Counsel review. The Bureau of Census’ (Census) designation of a former incorporated unit of general local government as dissolved or a former unincorporated unit of general local 91 20 government as incorporated is important because Section 102(b) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, requires the definitions in Section 102(a) such as city, metropolitan city, and urban county to be based on the most recent data compiled by Census. Therefore, Census must recognize the former incorporated unit of general local government as dissolved for it to be recognized by HUD as no longer being an incorporated unit of general local government. If the urban county is requalifying this year or the following year, and the unit of general local government is recognized by Census as dissolved, the former unit of general local government will be considered a part of the unincorporated area of the urban county. In that instance, CDBG funds may be used to assist activities that will be located in the former unit of general local government, and its residents may benefit from CDBG- assisted activities. If the urban county is requalifying this year, and the unit of general local government is not recognized as dissolved by Census (although dissolution has occurred), it will become part of the urban county, since the unit of government has legally ceased to exist. G. Qualification of New York Towns as Metropolitan Cities In the state of New York, there are towns that can qualify as metropolitan cities. These towns are required to secure the participation of all the incorporated villages located within their boundaries to attain metropolitan city status. As metropolitan cities, these towns may receive their own CDBG grants. New York towns requalify every three years. There are eight New York towns (Greensburgh, Hempstead, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Clarkstown, Ramapo, Smithtown, and Southampton) that are located in existing urban counties and are eligible to be metropolitan cities but have not taken steps to qualify as metropolitan cities. They decided to participate in their respective urban counties’ CDBG programs as participating units of general government. However, when the urban counties in which the towns are located requalify, these eight towns may decide to become metropolitan cities and administer their own CDBG programs. This means that the towns would have elected to leave the urban counties in which they were participating as units of general local government. If a New York town decides to become a metropolitan city and administer its own CDBG program, the following steps must be taken: 1. The New York town should decide before the urban county requalification process starts (usually March or April) whether it will accept its metropolitan city status. Past experience has demonstrated that units of general local government need plenty of time to complete all of the necessary processes, so HUD recommends that this decision-making process start in the year before the urban county’s requalification year. The town must secure the participation of all the villages located within its boundaries by execution of a cooperation agreement with those villages. Depending 92 21 on local circumstances, it may take several months to notify every village by letter of its intent to become a separate entitlement community and to secure the participation of all the villages. The town cannot qualify as an entitlement grantee unless it secures the participation of all the villages. To illustrate, for example, hypothetical Blue County is requalifying in 2024 for 2025-2027. The town of Orange has been participating in the county’s CDBG program but would like to become an entitlement grantee and administer its own CDBG program. It is advisable that the town make this decision during 2023 so it can begin to contact the villages and secure their participation in the town’s CDBG program. 2. The urban county is required to notify all participating units of general local government by letter (typically, in April) that they may choose to opt out of participation in the urban county’s CDBG program. The units of general local government must notify the urban counties by letter of their decisions by the due date (typically, in June) in Section II. of the urban county Qualification/ Requalification Notice. The New York town must respond to the urban county’s correspondence by that date. If the town has an automatically renewing cooperation agreement with the urban county, it must notify the county (typically by mid-June) that it is terminating the cooperation agreement. The urban county must be notified by the established deadlines in this Notice so that it may complete the requalification process in a timely manner. Failure to meet the established deadlines may result in the New York town having to remain as part of the urban county for the next three-year qualification period. Furthermore, if a town notifies its respective urban county that it is leaving, and then does not sign up all the villages, then the town and any villages that have signed on to the town’s decision to seek entitlement status may be excluded from the urban county but cannot receive separate metropolitan city funding because it did not qualify. IX. DETERMINATIONS OF ESSENTIAL POWERS A. For new urban counties, HUD Field Office Counsel must initially determine whether each county within its jurisdiction that is eligible to qualify as an urban county has powers to carry out essential community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. For requalifying urban counties, the Field Office Counsel may rely on its previous determination(s) unless there is evidence to the contrary. In assessing such evidence, Field Office counsel may consider information provided by the county and its included units of general local government as well as other relevant information obtained from independent sources. For these purposes, the term essential community development and housing assistance activities means community renewal and lower-income housing assistance activities. Activities that may be accepted as essential community development and housing assistance activities might include but are not limited to (1) acquisition of property for disposition for private reuse, especially for low- and moderate-income housing; (2) direct rehabilitation of 93 22 or financial assistance to housing; (3) low rent housing activities; (4) disposition of land to private developers for appropriate redevelopment; and (5) condemnation of property for low-income housing. In making the required determinations, Field Office Counsel must consider both the county’s authority and, where applicable, the authority of its designated agency or agencies. Field Office Counsel shall make such determinations as identified below and concur in notifications to the county(ies) about these issues. B. For new and requalifying counties, the notification by the Field Office required under Section II., paragraph A., must include the following determinations: 1. Whether the county is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities in its unincorporated areas, if any, which are not units of general local government. 2. Which of the county’s units of general local government the county is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities without the consent of the governing body of the locality. The population of these units of local government will be counted towards qualification of the urban county unless they specifically elect to be excluded from the county for purposes of the CDBG program and so notify both the county and HUD by letter by July 14, 2023); and, 3. Which of the county’s units of general local government the county is either (a) not authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities or (b) may do so only with the consent of the governing body of the locality. The population of these units of local government will only be counted if they have signed cooperation agreements with the county that meet the standards set forth in Section V. of this Notice. 94 23 ATTACHMENT A ALL CURRENTLY QUALIFIED URBAN COUNTIES NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES MAINE CUMBERLAND COUNTY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY ATLANTIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON COUNTY NEW JERSEY CAMDEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY GLOUCESTER COUNTY NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY NEW JERSEY MIDDLESEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY MONMOUTH COUNTY NEW JERSEY MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY OCEAN COUNTY NEW JERSEY PASSAIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY SOMERSET COUNTY NEW JERSEY UNION COUNTY NEW YORK DUTCHESS COUNTY NEW YORK ERIE COUNTY NEW YORK MONROE COUNTY NEW YORK NASSAU COUNTY NEW YORK ONONDAGA COUNTY NEW YORK ORANGE COUNTY NEW YORK ROCKLAND COUNTY NEW YORK SUFFOLK COUNTY NEW YORK WESTCHESTER COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DELAWARE NEW CASTLE COUNTY MARYLAND ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY 95 24 MARYLAND HARFORD COUNTY MARYLAND HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ALLEGHENY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BEAVER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BERKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BUCKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CHESTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CUMBERLAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DAUPHIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LANCASTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LEHIGH COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LUZERNE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA NORTHAMPTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WASHINGTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WESTMORELAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA YORK COUNTY VIRGINIA ARLINGTON COUNTY VIRGINIA CHESTERFIELD COUNTY VIRGINIA FAIRFAX COUNTY VIRGINIA HENRICO COUNTY VIRGINIA LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA JEFFERSON COUNTY ALABAMA MOBILE COUNTY FLORIDA BREVARD COUNTY FLORIDA BROWARD COUNTY FLORIDA CLAY COUNTY FLORIDA COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY 96 25 FLORIDA LAKE COUNTY FLORIDA LEE COUNTY FLORIDA MANATEE COUNTY FLORIDA MARION COUNTY FLORIDA MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FLORIDA ORANGE COUNTY FLORIDA OSCEOLA COUNTY FLORIDA PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA PINELLAS COUNTY FLORIDA POLK COUNTY FLORIDA SARASOTA COUNTY FLORIDA SEMINOLE COUNTY FLORIDA ST. JOHNS COUNTY FLORIDA VOLUSIA COUNTY GEORGIA CHEROKEE COUNTY GEORGIA CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA COBB COUNTY GEORGIA DE KALB COUNTY GEORGIA FULTON COUNTY GEORGIA GWINNETT COUNTY GEORGIA HENRY COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA UNION COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA BERKELEY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA CHARLESTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA GREENVILLE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA HORRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA LEXINGTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA RICHLAND COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA SPARTANBURG COUNTY TENNESSEE KNOX COUNTY TENNESSEE SHELBY COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES 97 26 ILLINOIS COOK COUNTY ILLINOIS DU PAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS LAKE COUNTY ILLINOIS MADISON COUNTY ILLINOIS MCHENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS ST. CLAIR COUNTY ILLINOIS WILL COUNTY INDIANA HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA LAKE COUNTY MICHIGAN GENESEE COUNTY MICHIGAN KENT COUNTY MICHIGAN MACOMB COUNTY MICHIGAN OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN WASHTENAW COUNTY MICHIGAN WAYNE COUNTY MINNESOTA ANOKA COUNTY MINNESOTA DAKOTA COUNTY MINNESOTA HENNEPIN COUNTY MINNESOTA RAMSEY COUNTY MINNESOTA ST. LOUIS COUNTY MINNESOTA WASHINGTON COUNTY OHIO BUTLER COUNTY OHIO CLERMONT COUNTY OHIO CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY OHIO LAKE COUNTY OHIO MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO STARK COUNTY OHIO SUMMIT COUNTY OHIO WARREN COUNTY WISCONSIN DANE COUNTY WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE COUNTY WISCONSIN WAUKESHA COUNTY 98 27 SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES LOUISIANA JEFFERSON PARISH LOUISIANA ST. TAMMANY PARISH OKLAHOMA TULSA COUNTY TEXAS BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS BRAZORIA COUNTY TEXAS DALLAS COUNTY TEXAS FORT BEND COUNTY TEXAS HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS HIDALGO COUNTY TEXAS MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEXAS TARRANT COUNTY TEXAS TRAVIS COUNTY TEXAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES KANSAS JOHNSON COUNTY MISSOURI JEFFERSON COUNTY MISSOURI ST. LOUIS COUNTY MISSOURI ST. CHARLES COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES COLORADO ADAMS COUNTY COLORADO ARAPAHOE COUNTY COLORADO EL PASO COUNTY COLORADO JEFFERSON COUNTY COLORADO WELD COUNTY UTAH SALT LAKE COUNTY UTAH UTAH COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA MARICOPA COUNTY 99 28 ARIZONA PIMA COUNTY ARIZONA PINAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA ALAMEDA COUNTY CALIFORNIA CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CALIFORNIA FRESNO COUNTY CALIFORNIA KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES COUNTY CALIFORNIA MARIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA MONTEREY COUNTY CALIFORNIA ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE COUNTY CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN MATEO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA CLARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA SONOMA COUNTY CALIFORNIA STANISLAUS COUNTY CALIFORNIA VENTURA COUNTY NEVADA CLARK COUNTY NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES OREGON CLACKAMAS COUNTY OREGON MARION COUNTY OREGON MULTNOMAH COUNTY OREGON WASHINGTON COUNTY WASHINGTON CLARK COUNTY WASHINGTON KING COUNTY WASHINGTON KITSAP COUNTY WASHINGTON PIERCE COUNTY WASHINGTON SNOHOMISH COUNTY WASHINGTON SPOKANE COUNTY WASHINGTON THURSTON COUNTY 100 29 101 30 ATTACHMENT B COUNTIES SCHEDULED TO REQUALIFY IN 2023 FOR FYs 2024-2026 NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON COUNTY NEW JERSEY CAMDEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY NEW JERSEY MIDDLESEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY MONMOUTH COUNTY NEW JERSEY MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY UNION COUNTY NEW YORK ERIE COUNTY NEW YORK MONROE COUNTY NEW YORK NASSAU COUNTY NEW YORK ONONDAGA COUNTY NEW YORK ORANGE COUNTY NEW YORK ROCKLAND COUNTY NEW YORK SUFFOLK COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DELAWARE NEW CASTLE COUNTY MARYLAND ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY MARYLAND HARFORD COUNTY MARYLAND MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ALLEGHENY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BEAVER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BERKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA BUCKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CHESTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LANCASTER COUNTY 102 31 PENNSYLVANIA LUZERNE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WASHINGTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WESTMORELAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA YORK COUNTY VIRGINIA ARLINGTON COUNTY VIRGINIA FAIRFAX COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA JEFFERSON COUNTY FLORIDA BROWARD COUNTY FLORIDA CLAY COUNTY FLORIDA ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA LAKE COUNTY FLORIDA MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FLORIDA ORANGE COUNTY FLORIDA PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA PINELLAS COUNTY FLORIDA POLK COUNTY FLORIDA VOLUSIA COUNTY GEORGIA CHEROKEE COUNTY GEORGIA COBB COUNTY GEORGIA DE KALB COUNTY GEORGIA FULTON COUNTY GEORGIA HENRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA BERKELEY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA CHARLESTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA GREENVILLE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA LEXINGTON COUNTY TENNESSEE KNOX COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES ILLINOIS COOK COUNTY 103 32 ILLINOIS DU PAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS LAKE COUNTY ILLINOIS MADISON COUNTY ILLINOIS ST. CLAIR COUNTY ILLINOIS WILL COUNTY MICHIGAN GENESEE COUNTY MICHIGAN KENT COUNTY MICHIGAN MACOMB COUNTY MICHIGAN OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN WASHTENAW COUNTY MICHIGAN WAYNE COUNTY MINNESOTA HENNEPIN COUNTY OHIO CLERMONT COUNTY OHIO CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY OHIO LAKE COUNTY OHIO MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO STARK COUNTY OHIO SUMMIT COUNTY OHIO WARREN COUNTY WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES LOUISIANA JEFFERSON PARISH TEXAS DALLAS COUNTY TEXAS HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS HIDALGO COUNTY TEXAS TARRANT COUNTY TEXAS TRAVIS COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES MISSOURI ST. LOUIS COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES 104 33 COLORADO EL PASO COUNTY COLORADO JEFFERSON COUNTY COLORADO WELD COUNTY UTAH SALT LAKE COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA MARICOPA COUNTY CALIFORNIA ALAMEDA COUNTY CALIFORNIA CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CALIFORNIA FRESNO COUNTY CALIFORNIA KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES COUNTY CALIFORNIA MARIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE COUNTY CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SAN MATEO COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA CLARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA SONOMA COUNTY NEVADA CLARK COUNTY NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES OREGON CLACKAMAS COUNTY OREGON MARION COUNTY OREGON WASHINGTON COUNTY WASHINGTON CLARK COUNTY WASHINGTON KING COUNTY WASHINGTON PIERCE COUNTY WASHINGTON SNOHOMISH COUNTY WASHINGTON SPOKANE COUNTY 105 34 106 35 ATTACHMENT C COUNTIES SCHEDULED TO REQUALIFY IN 2024 FOR FYs 2025-2027 NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES MAINE CUMBERLAND COUNTY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY ATLANTIC COUNTY NEW YORK DUTCHESS COUNTY NEW YORK WESTCHESTER COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES PENNSYLVANIA LEHIGH COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA NORTHAMPTON COUNTY VIRGINIA CHESTERFIELD COUNTY VIRGINIA LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES FLORIDA BREVARD COUNTY FLORIDA COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY FLORIDA OSCEOLA COUNTY FLORIDA PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA SEMINOLE COUNTY FLORIDA ST. JOHNS COUNTY GEORGIA CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA GWINNETT COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA UNION COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA SPARTANBURG COUNTY 107 36 TENNESSEE SHELBY COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES ILLINOIS KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS MCHENRY COUNTY INDIANA HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA LAKE COUNTY MINNESOTA RAMSEY COUNTY MINNESOTA WASHINGTON COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES TEXAS BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS BRAZORIA COUNTY TEXAS FORT BEND COUNTY TEXAS MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEXAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES KANSAS JOHNSON COUNTY MISSOURI JEFFERSON COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES COLORADO ADAMS COUNTY COLORADO ARAPAHOE COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA PINAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA MONTEREY COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA VENTURA COUNTY 108 37 NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES OREGON MULTNOMAH COUNTY WASHINGTON THURSTON COUNTY 109 38 ATTACHMENT D COUNTIES SCHEDULED TO REQUALIFY IN 2025 FOR FYs 2026-2028 NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES NEW JERSEY GLOUCESTER COUNTY NEW JERSEY OCEAN COUNTY NEW JERSEY PASSAIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY SOMERSET COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES MARYLAND HOWARD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CUMBERLAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DAUPHIN COUNTY VIRGINIA HENRICO COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA MOBILE COUNTY FLORIDA LEE COUNTY FLORIDA MANATEE COUNTY FLORIDA MARION COUNTY FLORIDA SARASOTA COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA HORRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA RICHLAND COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES MINNESOTA ANOKA COUNTY MINNESOTA DAKOTA COUNTY MINNESOTA ST LOUIS COUNTY OHIO BUTLER COUNTY 110 39 WISCONSIN DANE COUNTY WISCONSIN WAUKESHA COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES LOUISIANA ST. TAMMANY PARISH OKLAHOMA TULSA COUNTY GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES MISSOURI ST. CHARLES COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES UTAH UTAH COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA PIMA COUNTY CALIFORNIA STANISLAUS COUNTY NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES WASHINGTON KITSAP COUNTY 111 40 ATTACHMENT E COUNTIES QUALIFIED THROUGH 2024 OR 2025 THAT CONTAIN NON-PARTICIPATING COMMUNITIES NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES CUMBERLAND COUNTY MAINE NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY FIELD OFFICES ATLANTIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY WESTCHESTER COUNTY NEW YORK MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DAUPHIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA LEHIGH COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES MOBILE COUNTY ALABAMA BREVARD COUNTY FLORIDA COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY FLORIDA MANATEE COUNTY FLORIDA MARION COUNTY FLORIDA PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA SARASOTA COUNTY FLORIDA ST. JOHNS COUNTY FLORIDA CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA GWINNETT COUNTY GEORGIA MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA UNION COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HORRY COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA 112 41 RICHLAND COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA SPARTANBURG COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS MCHENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS HAMILTON COUNTY INDIANA RAMSEY COUNTY MINNESOTA ST. LOUIS COUNTY MINNESOTA WASHINGTON COUNTY MINNESOTA BUTLER COUNTY OHIO DANE COUNTY WISCONSIN WAUKESHA COUNTY WISCONSIN SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES TULSA COUNTY OKLAHOMA BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS BRAZORIA COUNTY TEXAS FORT BEND COUNTY TEXAS MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEXAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY TEXAS GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES JEFFERSON COUNTY MISSOURI ST. CHARLES COUNTY MISSOURI ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES ARAPAHOE COUNTY COLORADO UTAH COUNTY UTAH PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES 113 42 PIMA COUNTY ARIZONA PINAL COUNTY ARIZONA MONTEREY COUNTY CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA NORTHWEST/ALASKA FIELD OFFICES MULTNOMAH COUNTY OREGON KITSAP COUNTY WASHINGTON THURSTON COUNTY WASHINGTON 114 43 ATTACHMENT F LIST OF COUNTIES THAT MAY QUALIFY AS URBAN COUNTIES IF METROPOLITAN CITIES RELINQUISH THEIR STATUS State Name POP21 AL Madison County 395,211 AL Huntsville city (pt.) 212,359 AL Montgomery County 227,434 AL Montgomery city 198,665 AL Tuscaloosa County 227,007 AL Tuscaloosa city 100,618 AR Benton County 293,692 AR Bentonville city 56,734 AR Rogers city 71,112 AR Springdale city (pt.) 12,106 AR Pulaski County 397,821 AR Jacksonville city 29,305 AR Little Rock city 201,998 AR North Little Rock city 64,162 AR Washington County 250,057 AR Fayetteville city 95,230 AR Springdale city (pt.) 75,503 AZ Yavapai County 242,253 AZ Prescott city 46,833 AZ Yuma County 206,990 AZ Yuma city 97,093 CA Butte County 208,309 CA Chico city 102,338 CA Paradise town 5,268 CA Springdale city (pt.) 75,503 CA Merced County 286,461 CA Merced city 89,308 CA Placer County 412,300 CA Rocklin city 72,975 CA Roseville city 151,901 CA Santa Cruz County 267,792 CA Santa Cruz city 61,950 CA Watsonville city 52,067 115 44 State Name POP21 CA Solano County 451,716 CA Fairfield city 119,705 CA Vacaville city 103,078 CA Vallejo city 124,886 CA Yolo County 216,986 CA Davis city 66,799 CA West Sacramento city 53,637 CA Woodland city 61,398 CO Boulder County 329,543 CO Boulder city 104,175 CO Longmont city (pt.) 99,463 CO Larimer County 362,533 CO Fort Collins city 168,538 CO Loveland city 77,194 FL Alachua County 279,238 FL Gainesville city 140,398 FL Leon County 292,817 FL Tallahassee city 197,102 FL Okaloosa County 213,255 FL Crestview city 27,820 FL Fort Walton Beach city 20,879 FL St. Lucie County 343,579 FL Fort Pierce city 47,927 FL Port St. Lucie city 217,523 GA Chatham County 296,329 GA Savannah city 147,088 GA Hall County 207,369 GA Gainesville city 43,417 IA Linn County 228,939 IA Cedar Rapids city 136,467 ID Ada County 511,931 ID Boise City city 237,446 ID Meridian city 125,963 ID Canyon County 243,115 ID Caldwell city 63,629 ID Nampa city 106,186 IL Champaign County 205,943 IL Champaign city 89,114 IL Rantoul village 12,119 IL Urbana city 38,681 116 45 State Name POP21 IL Winnebago County 283,119 IL Rockford city (pt.) 147,711 IN Allen County 388,608 IN Fort Wayne city 265,974 IN Elkhart County 206,921 IN Elkhart city 53,949 IN Goshen city 34,756 IN St. Joseph County 272,212 IN Mishawaka city 51,074 IN South Bend city 103,353 KS Sedgwick County 523,828 KS Wichita city 395,699 LA Caddo Parish 233,092 LA Shreveport city (pt.) 181,146 LA Calcasieu Parish 205,282 LA Lake Charles city 81,097 ME York County 214,591 ME Biddeford city 22,569 MI Ingham County 284,034 MI East Lansing city (pt.) 44,417 MI Lansing city (pt.) 107,653 MI Kalamazoo County 261,108 MI Kalamazoo city 73,257 MI Portage city 48,844 MO Clay County 255,518 MO Kansas City city (pt.) 139,432 MO Greene County 300,865 MO Springfield city (pt.) 169,722 MO Jackson County 716,862 MO Blue Springs city 59,430 MO Independence city (pt.) 122,088 MO Kansas City city (pt.) 314,956 MO Lee's Summit city (pt.) 100,061 MS Harrison County 209,396 MS Biloxi city 49,241 MS Gulfport city 72,105 MS Hinds County 222,679 MS Jackson city (pt.) 149,387 NC Buncombe County 271,534 NC Asheville city 94,067 117 46 State Name POP21 NC Cabarrus County 231,278 NC Concord city 107,697 NC Kannapolis city (pt.) 43,875 NC Durham County 326,126 NC Chapel Hill town (pt.) 2,847 NC Durham city (pt.) 285,115 NC Raleigh city (pt.) 1,540 NC Forsyth County 385,523 NC High Point city (pt.) 80 NC Winston-Salem city 250,320 NC Gaston County 230,856 NC Gastonia city 81,161 NC Guilford County 542,410 NC Burlington city (pt.) 1,892 NC Greensboro city 298,263 NC High Point city (pt.) 107,265 NC New Hanover County 229,018 NC Wilmington city 117,643 NC Onslow County 206,160 NC Jacksonville city 72,876 NE Douglas County 585,008 NE Omaha city 487,300 NE Lancaster County 324,514 NE Lincoln city 292,657 NM Bernalillo County 674,393 NM Albuquerque city 562,599 NM Rio Rancho city (pt.) 5 NM Doña Ana County 221,508 NM Las Cruces city 112,914 NV Washoe County 493,392 NV Reno city 268,851 NV Sparks city 109,796 NY Niagara County 211,653 NY Niagara Falls city 48,360 NY Oneida County 230,274 NY Rome city 31,974 NY Utica city 64,501 OH Lorain County 315,595 OH Elyria city 52,816 OH Lorain city 65,430 118 47 State Name POP21 OH Lucas County 429,191 OH Toledo city 268,508 OH Mahoning County 226,762 OH Alliance city (pt.) 46 OH Youngstown city (pt.) 60,268 OH Trumbull County 201,335 OH Warren city 39,020 OH Youngstown city (pt.) 2 OK Cleveland County 297,597 OK Moore city 63,462 OK Norman city 128,097 OK Oklahoma City city (pt.) 78,976 OK Oklahoma County 798,575 OK Edmond city 95,341 OK Midwest City city 58,145 OK Oklahoma City city (pt.) 527,861 OR Deschutes County 204,801 OR Bend city 102,059 OR Redmond city 35,582 OR Jackson County 223,734 OR Ashland city 21,607 OR Medford city 86,367 OR Lane County 383,189 OR Eugene city 175,096 OR Springfield city 62,256 PA Erie County 269,011 PA Erie city 93,999 PA Lackawanna County 215,663 PA Scranton city 75,874 SC Anderson County 206,908 SC Anderson city 29,284 TN Hamilton County 369,135 TN Chattanooga city 182,113 TN Montgomery County 227,900 TN Clarksville city 170,957 TN Rutherford County 352,182 TN Murfreesboro city 157,519 TN Williamson County 255,735 TN Franklin city 85,469 119 48 State Name POP21 TX Bell County 379,617 TX Killeen city 156,261 TX Temple city 85,416 TX Brazos County 237,032 TX Bryan city 86,866 TX College Station city 120,019 TX Cameron County 423,029 TX Brownsville city 187,831 TX Harlingen city 71,925 TX San Benito city 24,780 TX El Paso County 867,947 TX El Paso city 678,415 TX Galveston County 355,062 TX Galveston city 53,219 TX League City city (pt.) 113,073 TX Texas City city (pt.) 54,247 TX Hays County 255,397 TX Austin city (pt.) 975 TX San Marcos city (pt.) 68,577 TX Jefferson County 253,704 TX Beaumont city 112,556 TX Port Arthur city (pt.) 55,645 TX Lubbock County 314,451 TX Lubbock city 260,993 TX McLennan County 263,115 TX Waco city 139,594 TX Nueces County 353,079 TX Corpus Christi city (pt.) 317,773 TX Smith County 237,186 TX Tyler city 107,192 TX Webb County 267,945 TX Laredo city 256,153 UT Weber County 267,066 UT Ogden city 86,798 WA Benton County 210,025 WA Kennewick city 84,488 WA Richland city 61,929 WA Whatcom County 228,831 WA Bellingham city 92,289 WA Yakima County 256,035 WA Yakima city 96,578 120 49 State Name POP21 WI Brown County 269,591 WI Green Bay city 107,015 121 50 ATTACHMENT G COUNTIES PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED AS ELIGIBLE BUT HAVE NOT ACCEPTED URBAN COUNTY STATUS NEW ENGLAND FIELD OFFICES NEW HAMPSHIRE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ROCKINGHAM COUNTY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY OFFICES NEW YORK SARATOGA COUNTY MID-ATLANTIC FIELD OFFICES DELAWARE SUSSEX COUNTY MARYLAND FREDERICK COUNTY SOUTHEAST/CARIBBEAN FIELD OFFICES ALABAMA BALDWIN COUNTY SHELBY COUNTY FLORIDA HERNANDO COUNTY GEORGIA FORSYTH COUNTY TENNESSEE SUMNER COUNTY MIDWEST FIELD OFFICES MICHIGAN OTTAWA COUNTY OHIO DELAWARE COUNTY SOUTHWEST FIELD OFFICES TEXAS COLLIN COUNTY DENTON COUNTY ELLIS COUNTY 122 51 GREAT PLAINS FIELD OFFICES IOWA POLK COUNTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICES UTAH DAVIS COUNTY PACIFIC/HAWAII FIELD OFFICES ARIZONA MOHAVE COUNTY* CALIFORNIA TULARE COUNTY *Mohave County may only qualify as an urban county if the cities of Kingman and Lake Havasu both decide not to accept their entitlement status. 123 124MIAMI-~ t❖i1Ui11 'iii/I Daniella Levine Cava Mayor May 5, 2023 Mayor Javier E. Fernandez City of South Miami City Hall, First Floor South Miami, FL 33143 Via e-mail: jfernandez@southmiamifl.gov Public Housing and Community Development 701 NW 1st Court, 16th Floor Miami, FL 33136-3914 T 786-469-4100 • F 786-469-4199 miamidade.gov Re: Urban County Qualification for Participation in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs for Fiscal Years (FY) 2024-2026 Dear Mayor Fernandez, The Housing and Community Development Act of 197 4 requires that every three years, all urban counties participating in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs undergo HUD's Urban County Qualification process. This process involves counties working with units of general local governments eligible (i.e. a municipality which is not entitled to receive its own federal or state entitlement) to participate. The County is currently qualified as an urban county and is scheduled to requalify for the period that begins January 1, 2024 and ends December 31, 2026. This letter is meant to inform you that your city has an opportunity to join the County's urban jurisdiction or to opt out. Your city must indicate, in writing, by July 7, 2023 its intent to "opt in" or "opt out" of participation with Miami-Dade County's entitlement jurisdiction. An election to participate will require the execution of the Urban Qualification Cooperation Agreement with the County, approval by the City's governing body, a legal opinion from the City, and other documents and certifications required by HUD as set forth in the attached CPD-23-02 notice. • A City's failure to respond means that they will be considered part of the urban county for FYs 2024-2026; • Cities "opting in" are not eligible to apply for grants under the State CDBG program while they are part of the urban county; • Becoming a part of or remaining with Miami-Dade County's urban county, your city automatically participates in the County's HOME and ESG programs if the County receives HOME and ESG funding; • While units of general local government may only receive a formula allocation under the HOME and ESG programs as part of the urban county, this does not preclude the urban county, or a unit of government participating with the urban county, from applying for HOME or ESG funds from the State, if the State allows. 125As part of the County's entitlement jurisdiction, we encourage your city to apply for an allocation of CDBG, HOME and ESG funding through the County's annual competitive Request For Application (RFA) process. If the City elects to be excluded from the County's entitlement jurisdiction, such election will be effective for the entire three-year period unless the City specifically elects to be included in a subsequent year. Further, such election must be submitted in writing to the County and the HUD Field Office no later than July 7, 2023. Please address your notification to: Ms. Lisa Johnson CPD Field Office Director U.S. Department of Housing of Housing and Urban Development Region IV, Miami Field Office Brickell Plaza Federal Building 909 SE 1st Avenue, Room 500 Miami, Florida 33131-3042 Mr. James McCall, HCD Manager Public Housing and Community Development Miami-Dade County 701 NW 1st Court, 14th Floor Miami, Florida 33136 If you need further information regarding this request on the Urban County Qualification process, please contact Mrs. Lawanda Scott-Clark, Principal Planner at 786-469-2113. Enclosure c: James McCall, HCD Manager 126 .... MIAMI-DADE STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF MIAMI-DADE: Before the unders ig ned authority personally appeared GUILLERMO GARCIA , who on oath says that he or she is the DIRECTOR OF O PE RATIONS , Lega l Notices of the Miami Daily Busi ness Review 1/1\/a Miami Re11lew, of Miami-Dade County, Flori da ; tha t the attached copy of advertiseme nt , being a Lega l Advertisement of Notice in the ma tte r of CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI -CtTY COMMISS ION -PUBLIC HEAR ING · SEPT . 5, 2023 in the XX.XX Court, - was pu bli shed in a newspape r by pri nt in the issues of Miami Daily Bus iness Rev iew f/k/a Miami Review on 08/25/2 023 Affiant further says that the news paper complies with all for publication in chapte r 50, Florida Swor and su bscr ibed be fore me this 25 day or AUGUST , A.D. 2023 ~ GUILLERMO GARCIA personally known to me _..ff~~;-,,__ ROSANA SALGADO i.: ,. ~ -, :•\ Commission# HH 336987 \~~~~w Expires NOYembe r 30, 2026 ·-.. ~~.f~•·· CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA CITY COMMISSION NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that the City Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesda Se tember 5, 2023 at 7:00 .m . to consider the following public hearing item(s): A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A M ULTI · YEAR AGREEMENT FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF SCHOOL ZONE SPEED LIMITS, PROV IDING FOR IMPLE MENTATION, CORR ECTIO NS, SEVERAB ILITY AND AN EFFECTIV E DATE. A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNlY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025, AND 2026; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, CORRECTIONS .AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMM ISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAM~ FLORI DA [GRANTING APPROVAL OF/DENYING] AN APPLICATION FOR FINAL PLAT APPROVAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 20-4.2 OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE SEEKING TO REPLAT PROPERTY WITHIN THE TRANSrT OR IENTED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT MIXED USE-q {TODD MU-5) ZONING DISTR ICT LOCATED AT 5961 SW 68 STREET; PROV IDING FOR CONDITIONS; CORRECTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION ; SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECT IVE DATE . 127 , ... A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA [GRANTING APPROVAL OF/DENYING) AN APPLICATION FOR TENTATIVE PLAT APPROVAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 20-4.2 OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE SEEKING TO SUBDIVIDE A PROPERTY WITHIN THE LOW DENSITY SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS-3) ZONING DISTRICT LOCATED AT 7709 SW 67 AVENUE; PROVIDING FOR CONDmONS ; CORRECTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION; SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. AN-ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 7 -"BU ILDINGS ", SECT ION 7-16(G). -'PRE-CONSffiUCTION AND CONSTRUCTION STANE>ARDS FOR SITES ", OF THE CITY'S CODE, TO AMEND PERMITTED HOURS FOR CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY; PROVIDING FOR CORRECTIONS; SEVERABILITY; CONFLICTS; IMPLEMENTATION; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The hearing will be held at .Q'.._ Hall Commission Chambe t Drive South Miami Aorida 33143. Commission members will participate in Chambers or by video conferencing through the Zoom platform and members of the public may join the meeting via Zoom at (htt s://zoom.us/i 056636338 , by phone by calling +1-786-635-1003 and entering Meeting ID: 3056636338 when prompted , or in person in the Commission Chambers, and where their appearance will be broadcast on the Zoom platfonn, and where they can participate. All interested parties are invited to attend and will be heard. For further information , please contact the City Clerk's Office at: 305-663 -6340. Pursuant to Section 286 .0105, Fla . Stat., the City hereby advises the public that if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the Commission with respect to th is matter, such person must ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. This notice does not constitute consent by the City for the introduction or admission of otherwise inadmissible or irrelevant evidence, nor does it authorize challenges or appeals not otherwise allowed by law. ADA: To request a modification to a policy, practice or procedure or to request an auxiliary aide or service in order to participate in a City program, activity or event, you must on or before 4:00 p.m. 3 business days before the meeting (not counting the day of the meeting} deliver your request to the City Clerk by telephone: 305 -663-6340, by mail at 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, Florida or email at npayne@southmiamlfl.gov. 8/25 Nkenga A. Payne, CMC, FCRM City Clerk -~-___ 23_-6_7/0000680817M SUNDAY AUGUST 27 2023 NEIGHBORS ...................................................................................................19SE 128 .-II Public Hearing THEMIAMI-DADECOUNTYBOARDOFCOUNTYCOMMISSIONERS will hold a Public Hearing on the following zoning applications on September 20, 2023, at 9:30a.m. in the Miami-Dade County Commission Chambers, located on the 2nd Fl, Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1st St, Miami, Fl 33128. THIS IS AN IN-PERSON MEETING APPLICANT: CN 86 Flagler, LLC. 22022000061 The application is to permit a rezoning of a parcel from EU-M (residential use) to RU-5A (semi-professional office use) in order to develop the parcel with an office building. Additionally, the application seeks approval of ancillary non-use variances to permit the proposed building to be located closer to the front and interior side property lines, to permit more lot coverage then permitted by code a reduction of the required parking spaces and to permit less open space than required. 1. District Boundary Change from EU-M (Estate Modified District) to RU-5A (Semi-Professional Office District). 2. NON-USE VARIANCE to permit the proposed office building to setback a minimum of 20' (25' required) from the front (north) property line and to setback 9' (15' required) from the interior side (east and west) property lines. 3. NON-USE VARIANCE to permit a lot coverage of 59% (40% maximum permitted). 4. NON-USE VARIANCE to allow for 7,645 sq. ft. of open space (9,337 sq. ft. required). 5. NON-USE VARIANCE to permit a build height of 32' (24' maximum). 6. NON-USE VARIANCE to permit 58 parking spaces (69 parking spaces required). Plans are on file and may be examined in the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, entitled "One Health Medical-Flagler Center", as prepared by Archcube Architectural Design, sheets A 1.0 and A 1.1 dated and stamped received 6/8/2023, sheet A4.0 dated stamped received 6/25/23 and sheet A6.0 dated stamped received 4/21/2023 for a total of four (4) sheets . Plans may be modified at public hearing . LOCATION: 8616 W. Flager Street, Miami-Dade County, Florida SIZE OF PROPERTY: 1.54 Acres This is an in-person meeting. Interested parties must appear in person to participate. Documents and materials must be submitted by e-mail ZONINGmeetings@miamidade.gov, or visit our website at: https://www.miamidade.gov/zoning/hearing-commissioners.asp For legal ads online, go to http://legalads.miamidade.gov CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA CITY COMMISSION NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that the City Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, September 5. 2023, at 7:00 p.m. to consider the following public hearing item(s): A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF SCHOOL ZONE SPEED LIMITS, PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, CORRECTIONS , SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE . A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE URBAN QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024, 2025, AND 2026; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, CORRECTIONS AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA [GRANTING APPROVAL OF/DENYING] AN APPLICATION FOR FINAL PLAT APPROVAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 20-4.2 OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE SEEKING TO REPLAT PROPERTY WITHIN THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT MIXED USE-5 (TODD MU-5) ZONING DISTRICT LOCATED AT 5961 SW 68 STREET; PROVIDING FOR CONDITIONS; CORRECTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION; SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA [GRANTING APPROVAL OF/DENYING] AN APPLICATION FOR TENTATIVE PLAT APPROVAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 20-4.2 OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE SEEKING TO SUBDIVIDE A PROPERTY WITHIN THE LOW DENSITY SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS-3) ZONING DISTRICT LOCATED AT 7709 SW 67 AVENUE; PROVIDING FOR CONDITIONS; CORRECTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION; SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 7 -"BUILDINGS", SECTION 7-16(0). - "PRE-CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS FOR SITES", OF THE CITY'S CODE, TO AMEND PERMITTED HOURS FOR CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY; PROVIDING FOR CORRECTIONS ; SEVERABILITY; CONFLICTS; IMPLEMENTATION ; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE . The hearing will be held at City Hall Commission Chambers, 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, Florida 33143. Commission members will participate in Chambers or by video conferencing through the Zoom platform and members of the public may join the meeting via Zoom at (https ://zoom.us/i /3056636338), by phone by calling +1-786-635-1003 and entering Meeting ID: 3056636338 when prompted, or in person in the Commission Chambers, and where their appearance will be broadcast on the Zoom platform, and where they can participate. All interested parties are invited to attend and will be heard. For further information, please contact the City Clerk's Office at: 305-663-6340. Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Fla. Stat., the City hereby advises the public that if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the Commission with respect to this matter, such person must ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. This notice does not constitute consent by the City for the introduction or admission of otherwise inadmissib]e or irrelevant evidence, nor does it authorize challenges or appea]s not otherwise allowed by Jaw. ADA: To request a modification to a policy, practice or procedure or to request an auxiliary aide or service in order to participate in a City program, activity or event, you must on or before 4 :00 p.m. 3 business days before the meeting (not counting the day of the meeting) deliver your request to the City Clerk by telephone: 305-663-6340, by mail at 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, Florida or email at npayne@southmiamifl.gov. Nkenga A. Payne, CMC, FCRM City Clerk