Community Development

Community Development Fund 

Through the Community Development Fund, awards of up to $500,000 are available to nonentitlement communities to be used mainly for Public Facilities (water/wastewater infrastructure, street and drainage improvements, and housing activities), though there are numerous other fundable activities. Congratulations to those in the North Central Texas region who received grant funding in previous cycles. 

The City of Blue Ridge has replaced sewer lines, opening an area of land for development that will provide economic opportunities for current and future residents. The sewer line work was completed in early 2022 utilizing grant funds received in 2019 from the  Community Development Fund.

The City of Kaufman completed a project in 2019 to repair and upgrade their storm drainage system. They utilized funds received in 2018 from the Community Development Fund to address flooding issues along Dallas Street. 

The City of Garrett has rebuilt several city streets to provide better access to neighborhoods, allowing school buses to transport children safely and allowing residents to avoid damage to their vehicles. The street work utilized funds received from a 2019 grant from the Community Development Fund.

The City of Gordon has begun work to update and repair its Water Treatment Plant’s filtration and treatment systems. The changes are necessary to provide treated water for all residents. The work is utilizing funds received from a 2021 grant from the Community Development Fund.

The City of Springtown will be replacing aging infrastructure in areas that need water and sewer system upgrades. Grant funds received in 2020 and 2021 from the Community Development Fund will make these improvements possible. 

The Community Development Fund is a category of the Texas Community Development Block Grant program. This program, administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture,  plays a critical role in helping smaller communities in Texas meet their infrastructure needs. Since 1974 the block grant program has supported the development of viable communities by providing decent housing and suitable living environments. The program also seeks to expand economic opportunities, principally for people of low to moderate income.

Fair Housing

The 1968 Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination. You cannot be denied access to a home solely on the basis of color, race, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or your familial status (children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18).

The TDA and TxCDBG are committed to affirmatively furthering Fair Housing in conjunction with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). Affirmatively furthering Fair Housing is a requirement of the CDBG program and TDA requires units of general local governments applying for CDBG funds to successfully affirmatively further Fair Housing.
More details regarding Fair Housing in Texas and the Fair Housing Act may be found on the TDHCA website.

NCTCOG's Fair Housing Brochure

Fair Housing Facts

In recognition of April as Fair Housing Month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the following facts concerning the Fair Housing Act:
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- The Fair Housing Act protects everyone. No one can be denied housing because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
- The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968 prompted passage of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, known as the Fair Housing Act. The bill was signed by President Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1968.
- Within one year of its passage, HUD began receiving 1,000 complaints a year. By 1988, complaints leveled off to about 5,000 a year.
- In 1989, additional amendments were implemented to strengthen the Fair Housing Act. They extended the act to cover discrimination based on disability and family status and added new enforcement mechanisms. These new provisions stimulated a dramatic increase in complaints. By the mid-1990's, HUD was receiving 10,000 complaints a year.
- HUD works with some 80 state and local agencies to review and investigate fair housing complaints In the last 9 years,
- HUD and its partner agencies have resolved nearly 25,000 complaints.
- HUD and its partner agencies found 4,000 cases of real discrimination.
- Two-thirds of the housing discrimination cases investigated by HUD resulted in positive outcomes for the complainant.

Here are some of the protections we enjoy because of the Fair Housing Act:

- Apartment managers cannot deny housing to blind people just because they have seeing eye dogs.
- Apartment buildings with 4 or more units, built after March 13, 1991, must be accessible to people with disabilities. If the building has more than one story, but no elevators, then the ground floor units must be accessible. If the building does have elevators, then all units must be accessible.
- Apartment owners and managers must approve reasonable modifications to apartments and common areas to accommodate people with disabilities, as long as those tenants pay for the modifications.
- It is not permissible to ask whether an applicant for an apartment has a disability or to ask about the nature or severity of the disability.
- An Administrative Law Judge can order landlords who discriminate to pay penalties.
- Mortgage companies cannot discriminate when making loans. HUD is proud of the fact that nearly 120 mortgage lenders have gone a step farther by signing a Fair Lending Agreement, to promote the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
To file a fair housing complaint, contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development toll free at 1-800-669-9777.

Fair Housing Information Resources

The State of Texas is committed to Fair Housing. Following are some of the sources of information and/or assistance:

Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity 
Department of Housing and Urban Development 
451 Seventh Street. S.W. , Room 5116
Washington, D.C. 20410-2000 
(202) 708-2878

For the National HUD Discrimination Hotline, call 1-800-669-9777, or for the hearing impaired, call TDD # 1-800-927-9275

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Region VI
307 W 7th St, Suite 1000
Fort Worth, TX 76102 
(817) 978-5965

Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
221 East 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 475-3976 (main line)

Housing Assistance Council 
1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W. 
Suite 606 
Washington, DC 20005 
(202) 842-8600

Fair Housing Links

HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
National Fair Housing Alliance
Fair Housing Institute
Chamber of Commerce Affordable Housing Resources

Community Development Webinar
May 11, 2023, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 pm
Agenda 
Presentation
Recorded Video
Links Mentioned in the video:

- What is Community Development Publication (AgriLife): https://agecoext.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/What-is-CD-AGEC-PU-152.pdf

- Promoting Community Vitality and Sustainability (Purdue): https://pcrd.purdue.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Community-Capitals-Framework-Writeup-Oct-2014.pdf

- What is Economic Development (Edward Hill): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08912424221147013

- 10 Commandments of Community Leadership (Association of Washington Cities, Inc.): https://wacities.org/docs/default-source/resources/tencommandments.pdf?sfvrsn=2

- North Central Texas Regional Economic Development Distro Sign-Up Form (NCTCOG): https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=vH5eL7Aivk-TTKq9204psVMmiPjeVUBDk7s3envbtHZUMk1JRTIwTENJQlE3UDdCNzFLNjhHVTdNUC4u

- Trinity River National Water Trail Task Force (NCTCOG): https://www.nctcog.org/envir/committees/trinity-river-national-water-trail-task-force

TxCDBG Prioritized Projects Public Meeting
June 27, 2022, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Presentation

Community Development Week Event
April 8, 2021, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Agenda
Presentation
Recorded Video

Unified Scoring Committee Training and Meeting
July 9, 2020 at 9am
Meeting Information

TxCDBG Prioritized Projects Public Meeting*
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Video conference information
Recording of the Public Meeting

Community Development Week Webinar
Friday, April 17, 2020
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Presentation
Recording of the Webinar

TxCDBG Prioritized Projects Committee Meeting
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Presentation
2019-2020 Prioritized Project Types
Recommended Priority Project Type

*Due to public health concerns, both HUD and the State of Texas have extended options for telephonic and virtual public meetings. For more information please visit https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-allows-virtual-and-telephonic-open-meetings-to-maintain-government-transparency

Regional Review Committe Meeting
No meetings held in 2019

Regional Review Committee Meeting
Monday, July 9, 2018
Metroplex Conference Room
NCTCOG Offices, CPII
616 Six Flags Drive
Arlington, TX 76011

Regional Review Committee Meeting
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
9:30 am - 11:30 am
William J. Pitstick Executive Board Room
NCTCOG Offices, CPII
616 Six Flags Drive
Arlington, TX 76011

Rule Change to Scoring Methods for TxCDBG

The TDA adopted new rules on February 24, 2020 that change the process for creating criteria and scoring methods for the TxCDBG. These rules dissolved the Regional Review Committee (RRC) that previously chose the criteria and prioritized project types for funding. Every grant cycle TDA will convene a state committee, the Unified Scoring Committee (USC), to select the criteria. The USC will have a representative from each planning region. The region is still responsible for determining the priority project types.

To determine priority project types, NCTCOG created a survey of all the eligible project types and sent it to non-entitlement communities in the region. The survey asked if communities would like to keep the previous project types or select new ones. It gave respondents the opportunity to rank all eligible project types as 1st Priority, 2nd Priority, or not a priority. NCTCOG hosted an in-person public meeting on June 27, 2022 to discuss these results and seek further input. Non-entitlement communities were notified of the meeting and public comment period 30 days in advance via newspaper ads, mailed postcard, and email reminders.

The following are the priority projects that the North Central Texas region selected for the upcoming grant cycle.

 

HUD’s Section 3 final rule went into effect July 1, 2021 and is described in Policy Issuance 20-01: Federal Revisions for Section 3 Requirements. Policy Issuance 20-01 added the newly created Section 3 documents to the existing thresholds for requesting grant funds.  All contracts requesting payment of grant funds for the first time under one of the following thresholds AND contracts requesting additional funds after previously satisfying the threshold requirements in effect at the time must provide the following Section 3 documentation as required by the Policy Issuance: 

Group A:  Section 3 Service Area Map
Group B:  Facilitation of general employment opportunity information (agenda or minutes documenting a public presentation to the local governing body) 

For services contracts awarded on or after July 1, 2021, please ensure that your local files contain records of the efforts to facilitate contracting opportunities for Section 3 Businesses. For all services contracts and subcontracts subject to the new Section 3 final rule, please ensure that your local files contain records of both the actual hours worked on the project per employee AND the efforts to identify potential section 3 workers as new employees are needed for the project.

For questions regarding the new Section 3 policies, please email CDBGReporting@TexasAgriculture.gov and include in the subject line “Section 3 TA”.

HUD Section 3 Opportunity Portal and Business Registry

Under HUD's Section 3 program, persons with low- and very-low incomes can get employment and training opportunities from organizations who receive certain HUD financial assistance. Businesses that provide economic opportunities to persons of low- and very-low incomes are also eligible for contracting opportunities from organizations who receive certain HUD financial assistance.

To help coordinate this assistance, HUD has created an Opportunity Portal and Business Registry to match Section 3 Residents to jobs and training opportunities and Section 3 Businesses to contracting opportunities. This will help communities that receive HUD funding find a business or contractor that will work on HUD projects or satisfy a HUD requirement. Eligible businesses must demonstrate that they are responsible and can successfully uphold the terms and conditions as outlined in the proposed contracts.

Section 3 Resident: any person who is a public housing resident or a person who resides in a metropolitan area or non-metropolitan county of the project and whose family income does not exceed HUD low income limits. 

Section 3 Business: a. 51% or more owned by residents of public housing or persons whose income does not exceed HUD’s local area low-income limits(i.e. Section 3 residents); or b. Comprised of 30% or more full-time employees who are Section 3 residents; or c. Can provide evidence of a firm commitment to award 25% or more of sub-contracts to businesses that meet a. or b. 

Section 3 Recipients and Employers: any entity that receives funding directly from HUD such as a public housing authority, a city or county department of housing and community development, a state or other HUD grantee.

Funding Sources for Improvement of Water/Sewer Systems, Other Public Infrastructure, and Housing

The Texas Community Development Program (TCDP) provides grant funding to cities and counties for improvement of water/sewer systems, other public facilities and  infrastructure, and housing. The non-entitlement portion of the CDBG program is administered by the TDA. The TCDP includes the funds listed below. 

Planning and Capacity Building Fund
Funding is available on a biennial basis through a statewide competition to provide assistance to eligible cities and counties for planning activities that assess local needs, develop strategies to address local needs, build or improve local infrastructure capacity, or that include other needed planning elements. The planning process undertaken with these funds should result in an improved local capacity to identify long and short-term needs and to develop implementable strategies to address the identified community needs.

Small Town Environment Program (STEP) Fund
Funds are available for grants on a direct award basis to cities and counties to provide grant assistance to cities and communities recognizing the need and willingness to solve water and sewer problems through STEP self-help techniques. The STEP approach to solving water and sewer needs recognizes affordability factors related to the construction and operations/maintenance of the necessary water or sewer improvements and then initiates a local focus of control based on the capacity and readiness of the community's residents to solve the problem through self-help. By utilizing the community's own resources (human, material and financial), the necessary water or sewer construction costs, engineering costs, and related administration costs can be reduced significantly from the cost for the installation of the same improvements through conventional construction methods. TCDP staff will provide guidance, assistance, and support to community leaders and residents willing to use self-help to solve their water and sewer problems.

Disaster Relief/Urgent Need Fund
The Disaster Relief Fund assists communities on an as-needed basis for recovery from natural disasters, such as a drought, flooding, or tornadoes, where the Governor has proclaimed a State disaster or has requested a federal disaster declaration. Depending on the nature and extent of the damage caused by the natural disaster, priority for the use of TCDP funds is the restoration of basic human needs such as water and sewer facilities and housing. Assistance is available through the Urgent Need fund for projects that include activities to address water or sewer urgent needs that have resulted in either death, illness, injury, or pose an imminent threat to life or health within the affected applicant's jurisdiction.

Economic Development
Supports rural business development, retention, and expansion by providing funds for public infrastructure, real estate development, or the elimination of deteriorated conditions. 

Renewable Energy
Grants for renewable energy technologies to help rural communities reduce energy costs for their water and wastewater treatment facilities. 

Texas Capital Fund
This fund offers grants to eligible communities for economic development needs by providing infrastructure and real estate improvements in support of businesses willing to create/retain jobs. The TDA administers this program. 

Housing Fund
The Housing Fund is available for infrastructure development to support affordable housing activities through the Housing Infrastructure Fund and for housing rehabilitation activities through the Housing Rehabilitation Fund.

Housing Infrastructure Fund: Funds are available to provide grants on a direct award basis for the infrastructure development to support the construction of affordable single family and multifamily low to moderate income housing. The funds may not be used for the actual construction costs of new housing.

Housing Rehabilitation Fund: Funding is available annually through a statewide competitive process for grants to cities and counties to provide loan or deferred loan assistance for the rehabilitation of existing owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing units and, in strictly limited circumstances, the construction of new housing that is accessible to persons with disabilities. Application selection and scoring criteria for this fund will place some emphasis on housing activities that are targeted towards the provision of accessible housing for persons with disabilities. Housing units that are rehabilitated under this fund must be brought up to HUD Section 8 Existing Housing Quality Standards or local housing codes.