Direct Loans Guaranteed Loans Grant Programs Community Facilities Direct Loans Guaranteed Loans Grant Programs

Where? Eligible Rural Areas Cities, towns, and census designated places (CDPs) with populations of 20,000 or less according to the latest decennial census of the United States. No limitation on population in unincorporated rural areas except in CDPs. There is an AN regarding “Definition of Rural and Rural Area.”

Eligible Rural Areas Projects must primarily serve and benefit rural residents and communities. At least 51% of population served must be in an eligible rural area. Discuss difference between rural area location of project and service area.

What Is An Essential Community Facility ? Provides an essential service to the local community. Must be a public improvement needed for the orderly development of a rural community.

What Is An Essential Community Facility? The facility is the physical structure and the service to be provided. If the funds are to purchase a fire truck, the truck is the facility. Whatever funds are used for, is considered the facility.

Who Is Eligible To Participate? Eligible Applicants Public Bodies Nonprofit Organizations Indian Tribes

An Eligible Facility Must Be: A function/service typically provided by a local unit of government Operated on a non-profit basis Within the jurisdiction of the applicant “Jurisdiction” of the applicant refers to organizational structure and purpose as well as territory.

An Eligible Facility Must Be: A function/service typically provided by a local unit of government Operated on a non-profit basis Within the jurisdiction of the applicant “Jurisdiction” of the applicant refers to organizational structure and purpose as well as territory.

An Eligible Facility Must Be: Able to demonstrate significant community support. Provide resolution or letter of support from affected local government(s) to indicate that: Service is needed Facility will not adversely impact other facilities providing similar services This is NOT a requirement for financial support Discuss AN – Evidence of Significant Community Support. This is a statutory requirement – applies to public bodies and tribes as well as nonprofit applicants. The documentation from a public body could be a Board or Bond Resolution or a letter from the Mayor. If tribal lands are within the service area of the facility, the applicant will need a letter from the tribal government.

Eligible Applicants Public Bodies Such as: municipality county district authority, or, other political subdivision of a state Other political subdivision of a state could be a borough, parish, precinct, etc.

Eligible Applicants Nonprofit Organizations An organization operated on a not-for-profit basis, such as an association, cooperative, or private corporation. Need to provide organizational documents to demonstrate nonprofit status. Cooperatives are only eligible when they are organized as nonprofits and they don’t restrict membership – have OGC review their organizational documents for eligibility. Typically what we see are corporations that are described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or organized under Membership Corporation Laws (volunteer fire departments).

Eligible Nonprofit Corporations Must have significant ties to local community To ensure that a facility under private control will carry out a public purpose Facility will continue to primarily serve rural areas Significant ties to the local community are required for loan making. These significant ties are extremely important if the project has problems once the facility is operating. There is a much better chance the facility will be able to recover and continue operating, if there is strong support from the community. Discuss YMCA example – significant support from the community turned things around. They held a major fundraising campaign to bring the account current and to retire the debt within 5 years. Flip-side – Daycare Center in the same state, failed due to lack of community support – only parents of kids in the center were providing support.

Evidence of Significant Ties Three ways to demonstrate significant ties: Close association with, or controlled by a local unit of government Broadly-based ownership and controlled by members of the community Substantial public funding We are going to discuss each of these.

CF Direct Loans Up to 40 years for construction projects Feasibility Study required for most projects Current CF Market interest rate is 3.375%

3.375%

The largest percentage of dollars (49%) were spent on healthcare.

Healthcare Hospitals: General Surgical Outpatient Psychiatric Specialty Emergency rooms

Healthcare Clinics Emergency Outpatient Physician’s Dental Dialysis Rehabilitation Mobile, etc.

USDA Rural Development & Health and Human Services Partnership Partnership between RD (USDA), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (HHS), and Health Resources and Services Administration (HHS) Increase the availability of capital for healthcare facilities and health IT Focus will primarily be on the potential for RD programs to support rural health providers

Contact Information Aaron Morris Community Programs Specialist Community Programs Direct Loan & Grant Processing and Servicing Division Washington, DC (202) 205-0486 aaron.morris@wdc.usda.gov