Consortia Builder - A Tool to Estimate Funding

Information by State  Print version   Related Information If you have questions about the Consortia Builder, please email Patricia Mason or call her at (202) 708-2684 x4588.

The Consortia Builder, available by state at the bottom of this page, has been developed in response to requests from local governments for guidance on how to combine the demographies of proposed member governments for the purpose of qualifying for a HOME formula allocation. It uses U.S. Census and HOME data to calculate an estimate of the amount of HOME funds that a potential consortium might qualify for under the HOME formula. Having an estimate of the HOME allocation and administrative funds available (10% of the allocation) also helps potential consortia design their regional housing and staffing plans.

The formula allocation is based on the proposed membership of the consortium and their geography as well as the weighted formula factors of the HOME regulations.
These factors are as follows:

• 60% of the HOME money goes to entitlements and 10% of that is distributed on population adjusted by per capita income. The per capita income adjustments have been excluded in the HOME Consortia Builder due to the complexity of the calculation. The proxy estimating factor is POP, where the unit value is $0.58.
  
  
• Another 10% of the 60% is distributed on total rental housing units occupied by the poor, adjusted by the national to local rental vacancy rate. This adjustment has been excluded in the HOME Consortia Builder due to the complexity of the calculation. The proxy estimating factor is TRHPOV, where the unit value is $18.65.
  
  
• Another 20% of the 60% is distributed on (P50RHP) Poverty households living in rental housing units built before 1950. There are no adjustments made to this factor. The estimating factor is P50RHP, where the unit value is $136.71.
  
  
• Another 20% of the 60% is distributed on families in poverty. There are no adjustments made to this factor. The estimating factor is FAMPOV, where the unit value is $49.90.
  
  
• Another 20% of the 60% is distributed on the number of rental housing units with one or more of four problems. And another 20% of 60% is allocated on this factor after it is adjusted for local to national construction cost variations. The HOME Consortia Builder excludes the cost indexing due to the complexity of the calculations. The proxy estimating factor is TRHC4, where the unit value is $36.64.
  

The Consortia Builder contains records for every city and town except the District of Columbia and areas within Puerto Rico. These locations have been excluded due to the additional calculations required to comply with the regulatory caps. The R.S. Means Construction Cost Index, part of the HOME formula calculation, has also not been included but it is expected that this will have only a minimum effect on the calculated results. Since the tool only provides an estimate, jurisdictions should allow for a margin of error when determining the member governments needed to participate.

The EXCEL table has three types of geography records:

1. Places: These are incorporated places and what are known as census-designated places. The latter are not real cities. They are neighborhoods that have concentrations of business, commercial, and residential activities and are used by the Census Bureau in decennial census data tables. It would have been problematic to exclude them from the EXCEL table. Each place record is identified by name and FIPS code. The county name and FIPS code is included for all places that are located in just one county. The county name and FIPS code are left blank when the city is located in two or more counties.
   
   
2. Minor Civil Divisions (MCD): These are the towns and townships. Each MCD is identified by name and FIPS code. The county name and FIPS code also is included. Some MCD's have places within them. For example, the town of Hempstead includes the village of Hempstead. To avoid double counting, data for places within MCD's has been subtracted from the MCD total.
   
   
3. County Balances: These records contain the data for any part of a county that is outside the boundaries of a place or minor civil division. It is the residual area that is committed to a consortium organization by the county officials. These records are identified by county name and FIPS code.

Select all of the place, minor civil division, and county balance area records that are going to be part of the planned HOME consortium.

Producing the Estimate:

The Excel Table has filters to focus on the criteria. Filter the list by clicking the arrow beside each column heading to obtain a dropdown list. Rows that don't meet the criteria will be hidden. More information about Using Filters with the Consortia Builder is available.

To calculate the funding estimate, choose a place from the PLACENAME column dropdown list or a county from the COUNTYNAME column dropdown list. The dollar value of each factor and the Estimated TOTAL are displayed for the place or county selected. Adding the Estimated TOTAL dollars of all of the proposed consortium members will produce the funding estimate.

To calculate a funding estimate for a proposed consortium that crosses state lines, the process will involve an additional step. Calculate the funding for one state by selecting the members. Calculate the funding for the second state by selecting the members then append the results of the calculation to the first state's results.

For further information on consortium qualification, interested communities should consult the HOME program regulations, the Notice of Procedures for Designating Consortia, CPD 04-05 (PDF | Word) and their local HUD field office.

Please note: If you do not have Microsoft Excel available to view the worksheets, you may download the free Excel viewer from Microsoft.

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Montana   Nebraska   Nevada   New Hampshire   New Jersey   New Mexico   New York   North Carolina   North Dakota   Ohio   Oklahoma   Oregon   Pennsylvania

Rhode Island   South Carolina   South Dakota   Tennessee   Texas   Utah   Vermont   Virginia   Washington   West Virginia   Wisconsin   Wyoming