NAHRO's CD Edge

Welcome to NAHRO's CD Edge, our free e-newsletter focused on federal community development programs.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues. If you're not already subscribed to NAHRO's CD Edge, click here to subscribe.

In This Issue:

FY 2008 Appropriations Update
Update on IDIS Modernization
Preliminary Results of CPD Performance Measurement System

For HUD's Community Planning and Development programs, the FY 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2764) represents a step back from the conferenced version of the stand-alone Transportation-HUD spending measure (H.R. 3074) approved by House and Senate conferees earlier in the year. Although the conference report was approved by the full House, it never reached the Senate floor as Democratic leaders, facing a veto threat from the White House, eventually opted to pursue the consolidated bill.

While the conference report would have provided modest increases for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs, the omnibus package reduces funding for those programs below their respective FY 2007 levels. On a more positive note, the omnibus preserves funding for several important economic development programs while boosting funding for homelessness programs and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA).

Omnibus Cuts CDBG Formula Grants

The consolidated appropriations bill cuts CDBG formula funding by $118 million to $3.593 billion, a 3 percent reduction compared to the FY 2007 funding level of $3.711 billion. The conferenced version of H.R. 3074 would have boosted CDBG formula funding to $3.790 billion for FY 2008. The president's budget requested just $2.775 billion for CDBG formula grants for FY 2008, after accounting for a proposed $200 million set-aside for so-called "challenge grants." The funding level for CDBG formula grants set forth in the omnibus represents a 17 percent reduction from the FY 2004 level of $4.331 billion. NAHRO has consistently called for $4.5 billion in CDBG formula grant funding.

Set-asides under the Community Development Fund (the account that includes CDBG formula grants) in the omnibus measure include $62 million for the Native American Housing and Economic Development Block Grant, $179.8 million for Economic Development Initiative (EDI) earmarks, and $26 million for neighborhood initiative earmarks. EDI and neighborhood initiative earmarks were funded at a total of $360 million for FY 2006. No such earmarks were included in H.J. Res. 20, which provided FY 2007 funding for HUD programs. The omnibus bill specifies that unobligated FY 2006, 2007, and 2008 EDI grants may be used only for "acquisition, planning, design, purchase of equipment, revitalization, redevelopment or construction."

HOME Formula Funding Reduced

The omnibus bill provides $1.704 billion for the HOME program account for FY 2008, down from $1.757 billion in FY 2007. After accounting for set-asides, the omnibus funds HOME formula grants at just $1.628 billion, a 3 percent reduction compared to the FY 2007 level of $1.680 billion. The conferenced version of H.R. 3074 would have provided $1.686 billion for HOME formula grants. The administration's FY 2008 budget requested $1.917 billion. Set-asides within the HOME program account under the omnibus include $50 million for housing counseling, $12.5 million for HOME/CHDO technical assistance, a $3.465 million transfer to the Working Capital Fund, and $10 million for the American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI).

Both the House- and Senate-passed versions of H.R. 3074 included more meaningful increases to HOME formula funding. The House version of the bill would have boosted HOME formula funding to approximately $1.701 billion, while the Senate version included $1.777 billion for HOME formula grants. The conference report funding level for HOME formula grants resulted from conferees adopting the House figure while also setting aside $15 million for ADDI. The House-passed version of the spending bill did not include funding for ADDI, while the Senate version would have provided $25 million. HOME formula funding has declined steadily since FY 2004 when the formula program received $1.855 billion. NAHRO supports $2 billion in HOME formula funding.

NAHRO members: For NAHRO's complete summary of the omnibus spending package, including coverage of Section 108, brownfields, homeless assistance grants, HOPWA, and eminent domain, see NAHRO's December 21 Direct News. Direct News is NAHRO's members-only email service providing breaking news and information on federal housing and community development programs.

Representatives from HUD CPD and CACI provided details on the project's revised timeline. The latest plan calls for the "product development" phase of the project, currently ongoing, to end late in the second quarter of 2008. "User acceptance testing" would occur during the second and third quarters of the year, with a phased deployment of the new system beginning late in the third quarter. During the phased deployment stage, the new system will be rolled out according to a twelve week schedule that gradually migrates users from the old IDIS to the modernized system.

Recalling Earlier IDIS Briefings

Fully three years ago, during a November 2004 meeting of the joint working group charged with developing what is now CPD's performance measurement system, HUD announced that it had laid out a two-phase schedule intended to culminate in the launch of a completely re-engineered version of IDIS in the fourth quarter of 2007. Phase I of the modernization process was to have three steps. During the first step, HUD's contractor at the time was to gather information on the requirements for an intermediate version of IDIS by January 31, 2005. The next step was to be a design period lasting until November 30, 2005. The roll-out of an intermediate version of IDIS, combining more or less the same system architecture with a new, more user-friendly Web- and Windows-based interface was scheduled for release in the fall of 2006.

Phase II of the process was to feature the same three steps, with the debut of a totally new system to succeed scheduled for late fall 2007. HUD promised this new system would be fully integrated with the consolidated planning process and the new performance measurement system.

Nearly two years later CPD officials informed public interest group representatives during a November 1, 2006 briefing that an upgraded version of the current IDIS system was on target for initial deployment in summer 2007, with all grantees having access to the new system by the end of the fourth quarter of the 2007 federal fiscal year. During the November 1, 2006 briefing, CPD officials focused only on what was still known as Phase I of the project. As they had two years earlier, CPD officials stated that Phase I was intended to "enhance system availability and usability" through a web-based interface featuring improved functionality and reporting. Phase I would not, in their words, create a new system but would instead migrate the existing IDIS and its current functions to the Internet, thus allowing for a Web-based interface with more user-friendly features, including the use of a mouse.

Early in 2007 HUD ordered the current IDIS contractor to stop work on the modernization project. That development officially ended any chance HUD had to meet its goal of deploying the Phase I version of the system by end of 2007. HUD awarded a new contract to CACI in June 2007. The status of what used to be known as Phase II of the IDIS modernization project is currently unknown. During the December 14 briefing HUD officials seemed to indicate that the new version of IDIS now scheduled for deployment in late 2008 will combine elements of both Phase I and Phase II of the original project plan.

The performance measurement system combines three overarching objectives (1. Creating Suitable Living Environments, 2. Providing Decent Affordable Housing, and 3. Creating Economic Opportunities) with three outcomes (1. Availability/Accessibility, 2. Affordability, and 3. Sustainability). For each funded activity, grantees create an outcome/objective statement by selecting an appropriate objective, pairing it with a suitable outcome, and providing support for the statement by collecting and inputting the appropriate output indicator data into IDIS. Examples of output indicators include:

• Number of acres of brownfields redeveloped

• Number of rental units constructed (new) per project or activity

• Number of owner occupied units rehabilitated or improved

• Number of jobs created

• Direct financial assistance to homebuyers

• Number of businesses assisted
  

According to HUD, over 91 percent of CDBG grantees have entered at least some performance measurement data for open activities for FY 2007, with data for over 23,000 open activities entered thus far. Highlights of HUD's preliminary analysis of CDBG data for FY 2007 include the following:

• Over 24 million persons were assisted with some level of access to a public facility or type of infrastructure.

• Nearly 24 million persons were provided with some level of access to a public service.

• 21,140 businesses received CDBG assistance, with 75 percent of all business assistance resulting in job creation or retention.

• Nearly 28,000 jobs were created or retained, with more then 4 out of 5 jobs newly created.

• Grantees used CDBG funds to rehabilitate over 96,000 owner-occupied housing units and nearly 13,000 rental units.

• Grantees assisted the construction of nearly 1,300 new rental units, with 75 percent of the newly constructed units meeting the local definition of affordability.

• Grantees used CDBG funds to facilitate the construction of over 5,000 new owner-occupied housing units, with nearly two thirds of these new units meeting local definitions of affordability.

• Nearly 10,000 homebuyers were assisted with CDBG funds to purchase an existing residence, with two thirds of homebuyers being first-time purchasers.

• Grantees used CDBG funds create nearly 5,000 beds in overnight shelters or other emergency housing.

• Over 56,000 homeless persons were sheltered.

• Grantees provided emergency financial or legal assistance to over 11,000 individuals in order to prevent homelessness.