CDBG_Simplified_Application_FY26-27.pdf

OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)

Program Guidelines and Simplified Application Public Services, Capital, and Economic Development Projects

FY 2026-2027

INTRODUCTION

The City of Milpitas has been designated an Entitlement Community by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), receiving annual grant funds to address the needs of low- to moderate-income individuals through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. The City is now accepting CDBG applications for programming that will take place from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

HUD ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

Eligible entities:

• Are community-based agencies that serve low and/or moderate-income Milpitas residents

• Possess proof of 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS at the time of application

• Are incorporated with the Secretary of State

• Possess a Unique Entity ID (UEI) number at the time of application

To be eligible for CDBG funding, applicants must submit a proposed project that meets one of the three HUD National Objectives listed below. The proposed project must be carried out for the entire program year (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027)

Objective 1. Benefit Low and/or Moderate-Income Persons Categories:

• Area Benefit: an activity that benefits residents in a particular area, where at least 51% of the residents are low/moderate-income persons;

• Client Based/Limited Clientele: an activity that benefits a limited number of people, provided at least 51% of those are low/moderate-income persons (Abused children and adults, elderly, homeless, and persons with disabilities are presumed low/moderate-income);

• Housing Activity: activities undertaken to provide or improve permanent residential structures that will be occupied by low/moderate-income persons;

• Job Creation or Retention: an activity designed to create or retain permanent jobs, at least 51% of which will be filled with low/moderate-income people.

Objective 2: Prevention or Elimination of Slums and Blight Categories:

• Area-Based: activities that aid in the prevention or elimination of slums/blight in a designated area.

• Spot Basis: activities that eliminate specific conditions of blight or physical decay on a spot basis not located in a slum or blighted area;

• Urban Renewal: activities located within an urban renewal project area or Neighborhood Development Program action area.

Objective 3: Urgent Need This objective is rarely used. It is designed for activities that alleviate emergency conditions that pose a serious and immediate threat to the health and welfare of the community or are of recent origin or recently became urgent. This is most often used for natural disasters.

Applications are initially screened for compliance with the HUD National Objectives outlined above, and for containing an eligible activity.

• Eligible activities include, but are not limited to employment, youth or senior activities, job creation or retention activities, business and microenterprise assistance.

• Ineligible activities include but are not limited to the purchase of equipment, operating and maintenance expenses, political activities, lobbying, and income payments.

CITY OF MILPITAS PRIORITY PROGRAMMING

On June 3, 2025, the Milpitas City Council adopted a Five-Year Consolidated Plan (2025-2030) to establish priorities for the use of CDBG grant funds to benefit and improve the lives of Milpitas residents. This application will cover the second year of the Consolidated Plan. Organizations whose goals and services align with City Council goals will be prioritized for selection and funding.

City priorities vary depending on the project. Please see the table below for information.

Public Service Projects Capital Projects

• Domestic Violence Prevention and

Supportive Services/Shelters

• Homeless Sheltering and Services

• Senior Services

• Youth/Teen Services

• Child Care

• Home Repair/Rehabilitation

• Affordable Housing

• Rental Apartment Rehabilitation

• Historic Preservation

ANTICIPATED FUNDING AVAILABILITY

The federal government makes annual allocations of CDBG funds after the federal budget is approved.

The actual amount of funding available under this application will be revised once the City receives an award notification from HUD. Based on prior year funding, it is anticipated that the City of Milpitas will receive approximately $555,000 in CDBG Entitlement Grant funds for the 2026-2027 program year. The minimum amount of funding the City of Milpitas will issue any one agency is $5,000.

Please note the CDBG Entitlement Grant is a Reimbursement Grant. Funds can only be paid for activities that take place after an agreement has been executed between the City and a subgrantee.

APPLYING FOR CDBG FUNDING

• The CDBG application can be complicated. For this reason, applicants are strongly encouraged to review the application early in case they need to consult with the City’s Office of Housing.

• The CDBG application process begins with the submission of a Simplified Application, which provides an overview of the project for which you are requesting funds. Simplified Applications for FY 2026-2027 will be accepted from November 3, 2025, to December 5, 2025.

• A separate application is to be completed for each program proposed for funding.

• Every question must be answered, even if only to insert “N/A” or “0”. Applicants will be notified if their applications are incomplete. Applicants are expected to make necessary corrections and resubmit in a timely manner.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Applications will be evaluated by Housing Staff on the following basis:

• Threshold Criteria. Application is received on time, complete, and meets eligibility requirements.

• Evaluation Criteria. Once a project is determined to meet the threshold criteria, the proposed project is then evaluated against the additional criteria:

Funding Priority: The extent to which the project addresses the City’s funding priorities.

Organization Capacity/Capability: Ability of the organization to carry out proposed project/activity.

Project Feasibility/Readiness: Reasonableness of the proposed timeline for implementing and completing the project. Requests for funding public service programs must be for services rendered in FY 26-27.

Leveraging/Duplication of Services: The extent to which other funding sources have been committed to the project or activity.

Funds Requested: All applications are subject to the HUD-imposed cap guidelines. Staff must be judicious in selecting applicants that request a fair amount for the services rendered, while also not reducing funding requests to the extent where an applicant rejects the allocation.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

• If you are a new organization, please create an account through the City Data Services platform at https://www.citydataservices.net/.

• If you are an existing applicant, please log in normally to apply.

• Complete the Simplified Application and have your organization's Program Director sign and date the form.

• Submit Simplified Application through the City Data Services platform.

• For assistance technical assistance, please email support@citydataservices.com.

AFTER YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• After the Simplified Application deadline, Housing Staff will screen all Simplified Applications to ensure eligibility and completion;

• Housing Staff will present submissions to the City Council;

• Housing Staff will present submissions to the Community Housing Commission (CHC);

• After the City Council approves the Annual Action Plan and the projects the City Council would like to fund for FY 26-27 are selected, those subgrantees will be required to submit a full project application, scope of services, and insurance documentation.

PERFORMANCE REPORTS AND EVALUATION

The City of Milpitas’ Office of Housing maintains a high level of integrity in monitoring our subgrantees to ensure HUD financing and programmatic requirements are met. If your organization is selected to receive CDBG grant funding, you will be required to submit quarterly reports and supporting documentation of services rendered. If https://www.citydataservices.net/ mailto:support@citydataservices.com any concerns or questions arise regarding document submission, Housing Staff will contact subgrantees and begin an internal investigation. The internal investigation will continue until the discrepancy is cleared. If substandard performance is found, Housing Staff will attempt to resolve the issue via phone, email, and if needed, an on-site review. All organizations are liable for repayment of disallowed costs. Disallowed costs may be identified through audits, monitoring, or other sources. The City’s contracting officer shall make the final determination of disallowed costs subject to provisions of 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards).

On a programmatic basis, Housing Staff will contact organizations to conduct a monitoring on-site visit. Staff will be checking compliance in the following areas:

• National Objective and Eligibility

• Conformance to Subgrantee Agreement

• Record-Keeping Systems

• Financial Management Systems

• Insurance

• Procurement

• Equipment and Real Property

• Non-Discrimination and actions to Further Fair Housing

After the monitoring visit, Housing Staff will follow up with the subgrantee to discuss strengths, areas of improvement, and follow-up measures to be taken by the subgrantee.

These steps ensure long-term compliance with the requirements of the program.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For any questions on the CDBG application or for technical assistance, please contact:

Michelle Silva, Administrative Analyst II msilva@milpitas.gov

(408) 586-3222

CDBG APPLICANT TIMELINE

The application for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 will open on November 3, 2025, and close on December 5, 2025.

NOTE: Late or incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. No exceptions.

mailto:msilva@milpitas.gov

City of Milpitas CDBG Simplified Application FY 26-27

Organization’s Name: ___________________________________________

Submittal Date: __________________

Project Contact Person: _________________________________________________

Phone: _____________________________ Email: ____________________________

Program/Project Name: _________________________________________________

1. Briefly describe the program/project:

2. What National Objective(s) is the proposed project intended to meet?

Benefit to low- and moderate-income persons � Area Benefit � Limited Clientele � Housing � Jobs

3. What type of program/project are you applying for?

� Capital Improvements � Public Services � Program Admin/Fair Housing � Economic Development

4. CDBG funds being requested to implement the program/project:

5. Total cost of project:

6. Estimated number of low- and moderate-income Milpitas residents to be served:

7. Can your agency meet the following CDBG requirements listed on the following page?

� Yes � No

CDBG Subgrantee Reporting Requirements

Recipients of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds must be able to justify the use of those funds by showing that the activities are both eligible and consistent with its Subgrantee Agreement with the City of Milpitas and that expenses were appropriate and allowable under the program guidelines. Subgrantees must be able to meet the minimum requirements listed below:

� Must be able to front the cost of service delivery for the program activity (CDBG is a reimbursement-based grant).

� Must be able to provide extensive insurance documentation:

• W-9 Form

• Commercial General Liability (Certificate)

• Additional Insured Endorsement

• Business Automobile Liability (Certificate) – Only applies if your organization owns automobiles.

• Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability (certificate)

� Must have systems in place to collect and maintain information about the characteristics of beneficiaries of direct benefit activities (expressed in total households/persons assisted, number of extremely low-income, low-income, and moderate-income households/persons, and ethnic characteristics of beneficiaries).

� Must be able to submit an invoice and quarterly report four times throughout the fiscal year, designed to track actual project accomplishments, obligations, and spending patterns against planned operations and accomplishments as specified in the project schedule and budget portions of the Subgrantee Agreement.

� Must have the ability to attend City Council meetings as necessary to discuss program activity and answer questions as needed.

More information about the responsibilities of Subgrantees can be found in the HUD guidebook below:

https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/687/playing-by-the-rules-a-handbook-for-cdbg-subrecipients-on-administrative-systems/

More information about eligible CDBG activities can be found at the link below:

https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Matrix-Code-Definitions.pdf

Please sign this page to indicate that your application is complete and correct, and that your agency can meet the CDBG Subgrantee Reporting Requirements:

(Program Director) (Date)

(Name and Title) https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/687/playing-by-the-rules-a-handbook-for-cdbg-subrecipients-on-administrative-systems/ https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/687/playing-by-the-rules-a-handbook-for-cdbg-subrecipients-on-administrative-systems/ https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Matrix-Code-Definitions.pdf