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Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program in California

open
Open Year Round


Direct Loan Applicant Guidance Book: PDF  |  Spanish

What does this program do?
This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

Who may apply for this program?
Eligible borrowers include:

What is an eligible area?
Rural areas including cities, villages, townships and towns including Federally Recognized Tribal Lands with no more than 20,000 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Data are eligible for this program.

How may funds be used?
Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and / or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment and pay related project expenses.

Examples of essential community facilities include:

  • Health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities
  • Public facilities such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements
  • Community support services such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing
  • Public safety services such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment
  • Educational services such as museums, libraries or private schools
  • Utility services such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment
  • Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses

For a complete list see Code of Federal Regulations 7 CFR, Part 1942.17(d) for loans; 7 CFR, Part 3570.62 for grants.

What kinds of funding are available?

  • Low interest direct loans
  • Grants
  • A combination of the two above, as well as our loan guarantee program. These may be combined with commercial financing to finance one project if all eligibility and feasibility requirements are met.

What are the funding priorities?

  • Priority point system based on population, median household income
    • Small communities with a population of 5,500 or less
    • Low-income communities having a median household income below 80% of the state nonmetropolitan median household income.

What are the terms?

Funding is provided through a competitive process.

Direct Loan:

  • Loan repayment terms may not be longer than the useful life of the facility, state statutes, the applicants authority, or a maximum of 40 years, whichever is less
  • Interest rates are set by Rural Development, contact us for details and current rates
  • Once the loan is approved, the interest rate is fixed for the entire term of the loan, and is determined by the median household income of the service area and population of the community
  • There are no pre-payment penalties
  • Contact us for details and current interest rates applicable for your project

Grant Approval:

  1. Applicant must be eligible for grant assistance, which is provided on a graduated scale with smaller communities with the lowest median household income being eligible for projects with a higher proportion of grant funds.  Grant assistance is limited to the following percentages of eligible project costs:Maximum of 75 percent when the proposed project is:
  • Located in a rural community having a population of 5,000 or fewer; and
  • The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 60 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.
  1. Maximum of 55 percent when the proposed project is:
  • Located in a rural community having a population of 12,000 or fewer; and
  • The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.
  1. Maximum of 35 percent when the proposed project is:
  • Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
  • The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 80 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.
  1. Maximum of 15 percent when the proposed project is:
  • Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
  • The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 90 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income. The proposed project must meet both percentage criteria. Grants are further limited.
  • Grant funds must be available

Are there additional requirements?

  • Applicants must have legal authority to borrow money, obtain security, repay loans, construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities
  • Applicants must be unable to finance the project from their own resources and/or through commercial credit at reasonable rates and terms
  • Facilities must serve rural area where they are/will be located
  • Project must demonstrate substantial community support
  • Environmental review must be completed/acceptable

How do we get started?

  • Contact your local office to discuss your specific project
  • Applications for this program are accepted year round
  • Program resources are available online (includes forms needed, guidance, certifications)
  • Request a Unique Entity ID number if your organization doesn’t already have one. It should not take more than a few business days to get your number.
  • Register your organization with the System for Award Management (SAM) if you aren’t already registered. The registration is free, but you need to complete several steps.

Who can answer questions?
Contact your local RD office.

What governs this program?

NOTE: Because citations and other information may be subject to change please always consult the program Instructions listed in the section above titled "What Law Governs this Program?" You may also contact your local office for assistance.

NOTE: If state specific forms are not shown above, please refer to the application materials listed below to start the process of applying. Please ensure that your state is selected in the dropdown menu above to find the State Office contact information for this program and speak to a Community Programs Specialist before attempting to fill out any forms or applications. This will save you valuable time in the process.

Application Checklist for use with this program:

RD Form 1942-40, Checklist - Public Body  (pdf) or

RD Form 1942-39, Checklist - Other Than Public Bodies (pdf)

Interest Rates

Current interest rates for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2024, effective January 1, 2024 – March 31, 2024:

Poverty: 4.500%*
Intermediate:   4.125%*
Market: 3.750%*

For this quarter, all loans may be obligated at the lower market rate.

National Architect Requirements:

Rural Development (RD) Programs, such as Community Facilities (CF) and Multi-Family Housing (MFH), involve the construction of new buildings or renovation of existing facilities. The development of these facilities involves the need  for architectural services for the preparation of plans, specifications, public bidding, contracting, construction, and construction monitoring.

Applicants, at the earliest possible time, should provide a Preliminary Architectural Feasibility Report, including the Cost Estimate, for the review by the RD Area Loan Specialist and RD State Architect. These two documents are needed to determine the project's feasibility.  RD's State Architect will evaluate and provide architectural/construction guidance to the Applicants and their Architects, for RD financed architectural projects, in the following areas:
               
                   Initial site visit & evaluation of the proposed project
                   Preliminary Architectural Feasibilty Report                    
                   Agency concurrence of Owner/Architect Agreements
                   Agency acceptance of Plans & Specifications
                   Agency concurrence of Construction Contract documents
                   Construction & construction monitoring

National Engineering Requirements:

Individual states may have particular requirements based on state and local regulations. Please select your state in the dropdown menu above to find your local contact for this program.

National Environmental Requirements:

Rural Development environmental requirements can be found here: RD 1970 Environmental Policies and Procedures. Benefits of the 1970 environmental regulations are described here: 7 CFR 1970 Benefits.

There are no other additional requirements at the national level. If there are additional state-specific requirements they will be listed above.

California Community Programs Contacts

 

State Office

Lisa Butler, Community Facilities Programs Director lisa.butler@usda.gov
(559) 754-3146 or (559) 309-6381 

Sally Tripp, State Office Community Programs Specialist sally.tripp@usda.gov (559) 754-3149

Luis Andrade, Water Environmental Programs Director luis.andrade@usda.gov
(760) 355-2208 ext. 108 or (760) 457-1829

Antonio Ybarra, State Office Community Programs Specialist antonio.ybarra@usda.gov
(559) 490-8035

 

County Contacts

 
County Contact
Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa Siskiyou, Sonoma, & Trinity Reef Atwell-Smith, Santa Rosa
reef.atwellsmith@usda.gov
(707) 536-0246

Daniel Alvarado, Eureka
daniel.alvarado@usda.gov
(707) 832--5596
Lassen, Modoc & Shasta 

Debra "Debbie" McCoy,
Alturas debbie.mccoy@usda.gov
(530) 233-4137 ext. 111

Jennifer “Jenni” Strauch, Alturas
jennifer.strauch@usda.gov
(530) 233-4137 ext. 112

Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Plumas & Tehama Justin Garey, Davis
justin.garey2@usda.gov
(530) 792-5834
Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus & Tuolumne Tonja Galentine, Modesto
tonja.galentine@usda.gov
(209) 287-3626

Sara Brookes, Modesto
sara.brookes@usda.gov
(209) 287-3639
Fresno, Kings, Madera & Tulare

Alba Lazaro, Fresno
alba.lazaro@usda.gov
(559) 490-8028

Serena Ramos, Visalia
serena.ramos1@usda.gov
(559) 754-3159

Kern, Inyo, Los Angeles, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara & Ventura

Al Correale, Santa Maria
al.correale@usda.gov
(805) 863-9938

Marcos Ramos, Santa Maria
marcos.ramos@usda.gov
(805) 863-9922

Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego

Edgar O. Ortega, Imperial
edgar.o.ortega@usda.gov  
(760) 355-2208 ext. 102

Teon Gore, Moreno Valley
teon.gore@usda.gov  
(951)-902-6562

El Dorado, Nevada, Sierra Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo & Yuba Robin Yasso, Auburn
robin.yasso@usda.gov
(530) 217-6241
Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara & Santa Cruz 

Esther De La Cruz, Salinas
esther.delacruz@usda.gov
(831) 975-7762

RCDI, SMW/TAT Christina Swegles, Phelan
christina.swegles@usda.gov 
(760) 843-6882 ext. 124
State Engineers Michael Starinsky, Davis
mike.starinsky@usda.gov
(530) 792-5814

Robert Neilson, Visalia
robert.neilson@usda.gov
(559) 754-3156
Community Programs Technician Jennifer Torres, Visalia (payments and auditor's request) jennifer.torres@usda.gov
(559) 754-3147
State Environmental Coordinator Jennifer Gooler, Santa Rosa
jennifer.gooler@usda,gov 
(707) 596-0845