Section 381.201  Grants to Municipalities and Counties

a)         Distribution of Funds

Subject to the annual receipt of funds, the Authority shall first deduct the funds it requires to meet its administrative expenses as described in Section 381.107. It shall distribute the remainder of the funds among the 4 geographic set-asides as described in section (b).

b)         Geographic Set-Asides

1)         After distributing the amount necessary for the purposes of subsection (a), the Authority shall make Grants to municipalities and counties for use in connection with Abandoned Residential Property. The Applicants shall be divided into 4 geographic set-aside categories with the money divided as follows:

A)        30% of the moneys in the Fund that have been appropriated, subject to the annual receipt of funds, shall be used to make Grants to municipalities in the County of Cook (other than the City) and to the County of Cook.

B)        25% of the moneys in the Fund that have been appropriated, subject to the annual receipt of funds, shall be used to make Grants to the City of Chicago.

C)        30% of the moneys in the Fund that have been appropriated, subject to the annual receipt of funds, shall be used to make Grants to the municipalities in the Collar Counties and to the Collar Counties.

D)        15% of the moneys in the Fund that have been appropriated, subject to the annual receipt of funds, shall be used to make Grants to municipalities in the State (other than the municipalities in the County of Cook and the Collar Counties), and to the other counties in the State (other than the County of Cook and the Collar Counties).  

2)         When the jurisdiction of a municipality is included within more than one of the geographic set-asides set forth in subsection (b)(1), the Authority may elect to fully fund the Application from one of the relevant geographic areas.

3)         Grants distributed to the municipalities and counties under subsection (b)(1)(D) shall be based on areas of greatest need within these counties, which shall be determined, to the extent practicable, proportionately on the amount of fees paid to the respective clerks of the courts within these counties, and on any other factors that the Authority deems appropriate [20 ILCS 3805/7.31(b)(4)]. The Authority will meet the statutory requirement to provide funding to areas of greatest need within this 96-county set-aside primarily through subsection (c)(1)(A) (Need).  Instances in which it is impracticable to base Grant awards proportionately on the amount of fees paid to the respective clerks of the court include, but are not limited to: when no application is received within the county; when no application received in the county meets the minimum application requirements; when funding is unavailable due to inadequate receipts; and when the amount collected by a county is less than the cost to administer the Grant.  Additionally, proportionate share funding may be impracticable when there are extraordinary circumstances warranting a larger Grant amount than the fees that have been remitted by that county. Extraordinary circumstances include such situation as: when an Applicant demonstrates exemplary capacity, need and impact; when there has been a natural disaster, a significant loss of employment, or other event generating extreme need within a county; and as demonstrated in the materials provided by the Applicant.

c)         Application Ranking

1)         The Authority will rank Applications against other Applications in the same geographic set-aside category based on the criteria in subsections (c)(1)(A) through (E):

A)        Need

Applicants should clearly demonstrate need within the jurisdiction.  This demonstration may include, but is not limited to, the fees paid to the clerks of the court in the county, along with historical information on the financial burden that maintaining and demolishing abandoned residential properties has imposed on the Applicant.  For the geographic set-aside referenced in subsection (b)(1)(D), and when the Treasurer provides regular and reliable data to the Authority on receipts for each county, the Authority will consider the amount remitted from the clerk of the court in the Applicant's county, along with information provided by the Applicant, to determine which Applications demonstrate the greatest need for the Grant and therefore will receive the highest score.

B)        Capacity

Applicants should clearly demonstrate capacity to undertake the proposed activities.  This demonstration may include, without limitation, evidence that the Applicant has administered similar grant programs.

C)        Impact

Applicants should clearly demonstrate that the Grant will have a strong positive impact, whether upon the entire jurisdiction or an identified portion of the jurisdiction.

D)        Budget and Cost Reasonableness

Applicants should provide an estimated budget and demonstrate a systematic, thorough and well-documented approach to ensuring that costs are reasonable, including any costs associated with third party vendors.

E)        Readiness to Proceed

Applicants should clearly demonstrate a thorough, detailed and reasonable work plan for the expeditious completion of proposed reimbursable activities.

2)         The Authority will equally weigh these criteria unless adjustment is necessary to further program requirements or legislative findings.  In the event the Authority seeks to revise the weighting of these criteria, the Authority will propose amendments to this Part.

(Source:  Amended at 38 Ill. Reg. 6678, effective March 10, 2014)