Section 100.210  Allocation of Block Grant Funds

a)         The Department shall allocate financial assistance for each county from sums available for any fiscal year from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Block Grant as described in the State's annual plan to HHS.

b)         The Department shall determine allocations for each county from available funds.

1)         At least 50% of the funds available shall be allocated to each county based on the "Index of Need".

A)        The Index of Need is comprised of five factors, which are:

i)          Heating Degree Days;

ii)         Fuel Cost Factor Per 100,000 BTUs;

iii)        Persons in Poverty (an amount determined by the Department by equally weighing available funding, energy costs, and economic conditions, but shall not exceed 150% of the OMB Poverty Income Guidelines);

iv)        Elderly in Poverty (an amount determined by the Department by equally weighing available funding, energy costs, and economic conditions, but shall not exceed 150% of OMB Poverty Income Guidelines); and

v)         Disabled persons.

B)        Each factor will be multiplied by an assigned weight.  The formula for determining each of these factors and the weight to be assigned to these factors is as follows:

i)          number of climatic heating degree days per county divided by total climatic heating degree days for State = heating degree days (5%);

ii)         estimated fuel cost per 100,000 BTUs per county divided by total estimated fuel cost per 100,000 BTUs for State = fuel cost factor per 100,000 BTUs (5%);

iii)        number of persons in poverty per county divided by total number of persons in poverty for State = persons in poverty (75%);

iv)        number of elderly persons in poverty per county divided by total number of elderly persons in poverty for State = elderly in poverty (10%); and

v)         number of disabled persons per county divided by total number of disabled persons for State = Disabled (5%).

C)        The sum of weighted factors will be multiplied by the total amount allocated to the counties to determine the county's allocation of funds.

2)         The remaining funds shall be held by the State for meeting those program contingencies which cannot be reasonably anticipated, (e.g., an unusually high need for energy assistance in any given county) and to meet the local agencies' administrative and/or outreach needs.

c)          The Department shall increase or reduce the allocation for a county for any of the following reasons:

1)         Changes in federal or state fund availability.

2)         Changes in sums available for any fiscal year from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Block Grant as described in the State's annual plan to HHS.

3)         The Department determines that the level of applications, which are eligible under Section 100.250, differs from the local agency's allocation, which is determined pursuant to subsection (b), during the subgrant period for which financial assistance was awarded.

d)         The Department shall make available one-third of the allocation for any county for the provision of assistance described in Section 100.220(a)(1) or (2) to eligible applicant households who are recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); General Assistance (GA); Aid to Aged, Blind, and Disabled (AABD); or who have incomes equal to or less than 40% of the OMB Poverty Guidelines.

e)           The Department shall notify the designated LAAs of the county allocations for which that agency is eligible to apply. Where no agency has been designated, the county allocations will be included in a request for proposal which shall be publicly advertised in the State newspaper and in at least one local newspaper within the area to be served.

(Source:  Section 100.210 recodified from 89 Ill. Adm. Code 109.210 at 33 Ill. Reg. 9466)