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Accessibility: All new construction of covered multifamily buildings must include certain features of accessible and adaptable design. Units covered are all those in buildings with four or more units and one or more elevators, and all ground floor units in buildings without elevators.

Agency: Any department, agency, commission, authority, administration, board, or other independent establishment in the executive branch of the government, including any corporation wholly or partly owned by the United States that is an independent instrumentality of the United States, not including the municipal government of the District of Columbia. (OMB Circular A-34, Part II, Section 21.1, p. II-2) HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Institutions Assisting Communities: A HUD grant program administered by the Office of University Partnerships to assist Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian institutions (AN/NHIs) of higher education expand their role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs in their localities, consistent with the purposes of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. Available Funds.

Analysis of Alternatives: Examining a set of feasible options to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each. Part of analyzing all of the alternatives includes a cost/benefit analysis of each alternative. (JFMIP Framework) HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Analysis of Impediments (AI): A HUD requirement for each state to conduct an analysis to determine impediments to fair housing choice within the state. The Commonwealth must take appropriate actions to overcome the effects of any impediments identified through that analysis. Fair Housing Planning Guide, Volume I, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1993.

Annual Contributions Contracts: Federal contracts entered into with local public housing agencies over a fixed period of time for payments toward unit rents, annual debt service on project financing, and financing for modernization of public housing projects.

Appropriation: One of the basic forms of Budget Authority. Statutory authority that allows Federal agencies to incur Obligations and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. An appropriation act is the most common means of providing budget authority, but in some cases the authorizing legislation itself provides the budget authority. (OMB Circular A-34, Part II, Section 21.1 (Budget Authority, p. II-3) HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Appropriation Act: A statute, under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations that generally provides legal authority for federal agencies to incur obligations and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. Three major types of appropriation acts are regular, supplemental, and continuing. (GAO) HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97

Authorizing Legislation: Specific authority in the form of a law that is necessary before a program can be carried out and funds can be appropriated.

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Board of Commissioners: Locally appointed citizens who serve as the directors' supervisor and policymakers of a local public agency for a specified term, usually without financial compensation.

Brownfields: Abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. Environmental Protection Agency website at www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/glossary.htm

Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI): BEDI grants enhance the security or improve the viability of a project financed with new Section 108 guaranteed loan authority. HUD intends BEDI and Section 108 funds to finance projects and activities that will provide near-term results and demonstrable economic benefits, such as job creation and increases in the local tax base. HUD website at http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/economicdevelopment/programs/bedi/index.cfm

Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative (BRI): An interagency initiative to address the financial and legal risks of cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields. To attract private financing, HUD brings together four existing types of assistance that communities can use to clean up and revitalize potentially contaminated sites: annual formula grants allocated through Community Development Block Grants; lower interest loan guarantee authority through the Section 108 Loan Guarantee program; accompanying competitive grants through the BEDI program; and additional competitive grants provided through the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control program.

Business and Operating Plan (BOP): Management plans developed by all HUD offices to accomplish the Department's mission and goals.

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Capital Fund Program: Program making funding available for physical and management improvements to all Public Housing Agencies (PHAs). Beginning in FY00, this program replaced the Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program (CIAP) and Comprehensive Grant Program (CGP).

Commerce Business Daily (CBD): Published by the U.S. Department of Commerce every federal business day. The CBD lists contracting opportunities with all federal agencies. In most cases, all proposed contracts expected to exceed $25,000 are required to be announced in the CBD at least 15 days before the solicitation is issued. CBD website at cbdnet.access.gpo.gov

Commitment: An administrative reservation of an allotment or of other funds in anticipation of an obligation (GAO). The amount of allotment or lower level authority committed in anticipation of an obligation (SGL, definition of account 4700; JFMIP Core Appendix A Terminology, p 49). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program: Authorized by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 replacing several community development categorical grant programs. CDBG provides eligible metropolitan cities and urban counties (called "entitlement communities") with annual direct grants that they can use to revitalize neighborhoods, expand affordable housing and economic opportunities, and/or improve community facilities and services, principally to benefit low- and moderate-income persons.

Community Development Work Study Program (CDWSP): HUD grant program administered by the Office of University Partnerships to attract more minority and disadvantaged students to academic programs in community planning and development. Colleges and universities throughout the United States use CDWSP funding to offer financial aid and work experience to students enrolled in a full-time graduate program in community development or a closely related field, such as urban planning, public policy, or public administration.

Community and Housing Development Organization (CHDO): A federally defined type of nonprofit housing provider that must receive a minimum of 15 percent of all federal HOME Investment Partnership funds. The primary difference between CHDO and other nonprofits is the level of low-income resident participation on the Board of Directors. HUDWEB, Continuum of Care and Veterans Programs Glossary

Community Housing Resource Board (CHRB): An organization composed of representatives of various groups having an interest in fair housing and equal opportunity, to assist with voluntary compliance with fair housing law.

Community Outreach Partnerships Center (COPC) Program: HUD grant program administered by the Office of University Partnerships that provides 3-year grants of up to $400,000 to encourage institutions of higher education to join in partnerships with their communities in revitalization efforts.

Comprehensive Homeless Assistance Plan (CHAP): Plans, required by law, that are submitted by states and local governments to the Secretary for approval before HUD assistance for the homeless can be made available.

Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program (CIAP): Program to provide funds to Public Housing Agencies to modernize public housing units.

Conference Committee: A committee composed of members of the Senate and House of Representatives that reconciles difference between similar legislation passed by the two Houses.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Budget organization created by the Congressional Budget Impoundment and Control Act of 1974, which provides staff assistance to Congress on the federal budget.

Consolidated Plan: Developed by local and state governments with the input from citizens and community groups, the Consolidated Plan serves four functions: (1) it is a planning document for each state and community, built on public participation and input; (2) it is the application for funds under HUD's formula grant programs (CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA); (3) it lays out local priorities; and (4) it lays out a 3-5 year strategy the jurisdiction will follow in implementing HUD programs.

Continuing Resolution: Enacted legislation for agencies to continue in operation until the regular appropriation is enacted. Continuing resolutions usually specify a maximum rate for obligations during a specified period of time.

Continuum of Care: A program to help more than 330,000 homeless Americans get housing, job training, childcare, and other services. The Continuum of Care, which is the centerpiece of the federal policy on homelessness, stresses permanent solutions to homelessness through comprehensive and collaborative community planning. In 1997 the Continuum of Care was one of 25 finalists, out of 1,400 competitors, for the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award that is awarded by the Ford Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. HUDWEB 1/4/99

Cooperation Agreement (Public Housing): Contract between a local housing authority and the governing body of the municipality where a public housing development is located, providing for the governing body to furnish municipal services and facilities to the authority and for the authority, in turn, to make stipulated payments in lieu of taxes to the municipality.

Cooperative Management Housing Insurance Fund (CMHI): One of four funds within the FHA Fund; used to finance the Section 213 Cooperative Housing Mortgage Insurance Program.

Contracting Officer (CO): COs are HUD's expressly authorized agents and represent HUD with regard to contractual matters. Only COs may enter into, administer, and terminate contracts. CO authority is delegated in writing and limited by the specific terms of each delegation.

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Davis-Bacon: Statutory requirement that persons working on federally supported projects be paid at least the minimum prevailing wage rate.

Deobligation: An agency's cancellation or downward adjustment of previously recorded Obligations (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Design Program (Public Housing): Guidelines provided by a local housing authority to architects, requiring, at a minimum, plans and specifications that adhere to local zoning and building requirements and HUD minimum property standards. The program usually sets forth the type of refuse disposal, heating system, security features, materials required, and amenities desired.

Design Standards: Standards governing the size, shape, and relationship of spaces in a building or area.

Development Costs (Public Housing): The costs incurred by a local housing authority or agency for a development and its necessary financing (including the cost of carrying charges, but not beyond the point of physical completion).

Direct Cost: Out-of-pocket expenditures made in conjunction with a project, for example, for labor, materials, land, fees as distinguished from overhead, administration, profit, and so forth.

Disbursements: Payments made using cash, checks, or electronic transfers. Disbursements include advances to others as well as payments for goods and services received and other types of payments made (JFMIP Core, pg. 48; Common Term). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Displaced by Governmental Action (HUD): An individual or family moved or to be moved from real property occupied as a dwelling unit as a result of activities in connection with a public improvement or development program carried on by an agency of the United States or any state or local government body or agency.

Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (DDRG) Program: HUD grant program administered by the Office of University Partnerships that empowers a new generation of urban scholars to develop and conduct applied research in the fields of housing and community development. An amount of $15,000 is distributed to as many as 15 doctoral candidates currently enrolled in accredited programs.

Drawdown: The withdrawal of funds from an account established for a specific purpose (for example, drawing funds against a letter of credit, a federal grant, or an escrow account).

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Economic Development Administration (EDA): Organization within the U.S. Department of Commerce responsible for a number of grant and loan programs designed to help alleviate conditions in economically depressed areas of the country.

Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG): A federal grant program designed to help improve the quality of existing emergency shelters for the homeless, to make available additional shelters, to meet the costs of operating shelters, to provide essential social services to homeless individuals, and to help prevent homelessness. HUDWEB, Continuum of Care and Veterans Programs Glossary.

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/EC): Designated low-income areas targeted to receive tax incentives, performance grants, and loans to create jobs, expand business opportunities, and support people looking for work. Initially authorized by Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the Statute), additional EZ/ECs were authorized by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

Enabling Legislation: Legislation authorizing governmental or other entities to carry out an activity, as under the provisions of a federal program.

Entitlement: An underlying formula governing the allocation of CDBG funds to eligible recipients. Entitlement grants are provided to larger urban cities (that is, population greater than 50,000) and larger urban counties (greater than 200,000).

Environmental Assessment (EA): A preliminary, written, environmental analysis required by EPA to determine whether a federal activity such as building airports or highways would significantly affect the environment; an EA may require preparation of a more detailed Environmental Impact Statement. EPA website for National Center for Environmental Assessment, cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): A document prepared by or for EPA that identifies and analyzes, in detail, environmental impacts of a proposed action. As a tool for decisionmaking, the EIS describes positive and negative effects and lists alternatives for an undertaking, such as development of a wilderness area. EPA website for National Environmental Policy Act, www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/index.html

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Term that refers to a variety of activities to ensure nondiscrimination in hiring, promoting, and managing employees.

Equal Housing Opportunity Plan (EHOP): Plan developed by Public Housing Agencies for use in Section 8 and Moderate Rehabilitation programs.

Expenditures: The balance in Standard General Ledger (SGL) account 4900, Expended Appropriations. Paid and unpaid expenditures for (a) services performed by employees, contractors, vendors, carriers, grantees, lessers, or other government funds; (b) goods and tangible property received; and (c) amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current service or performance is required (that is, annuities, insurance claims, other benefit payments) (JFMIP Core; SGL, definition of account 4900). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Expense: The outflow of assets or incurrence of liabilities (or both) during a period as a result of rendering services, delivering or producing goods, or carrying out other normal operating activities (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Expired Account: An appropriation or fund account in which the balance is no longer available for incurring new Obligations because the time available for incurring such obligations has expired. Expired accounts will be maintained by fiscal year identity for 5 years. During this 5-year period, obligations may be adjusted if otherwise proper (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Executive Information Systems (EIS), or Empowerment Information System (EIS): Tools programmed to provide canned reports or briefing books to top-level executives. They offer strong reporting and drill-down capabilities. These tools allow ad-hoc querying against a multidimensional database and most offer analytical applications along functional lines, such as sales or financial analysis. DAMA website at www.dmreview.com

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Fair Housing Act: Legislation first enacted in 1968 and expanded by amendments in 1974 and 1988, which provides the Secretary with investigation and enforcement responsibilities for fair housing practices. Prohibits discrimination in housing and lending based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or familial status.

Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP): A program to assist state and local agencies and community housing resources boards in processing Fair Housing Act complaints.

Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP): A program to assist states, local agencies, fair housing groups, and community housing resource boards in bringing public and private efforts together to combat housing discrimination.

Fair Market Rents (FMR): Rent Schedules published in the Federal Register that establish maximum eligible rent levels allowed under the Section 8 program by geographic area.

Fair Share Housing: The planned allocation of subsidized housing units to every community within a metropolitan area.

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): The federal government regulation that establishes and directs procurement policies and procedures for all federal agencies.

Federal Assistance: Those functions providing monetary support to state governments, local governments, private organizations, or individuals, including the functions of transfer payments, grants and subsidies, loans, and insurance (JFMIP Framework). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA): An insuring entity established by legislation, administered by the Assistant Secretary for Housing, who is responsible for the Department's various mortgage insurance programs.

Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA): An independent agency that governs the labor relations program in the federal government.

Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae): A federally chartered, stockholder-owned corporation that supports the secondary market for both conventional mortgages and mortgages insured by the FHA and guaranteed by VA.

FHA Fund: This fund consists of four separate funds to finance specific FHA mortgage insurance programs: Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) fund, Cooperative Management Housing Insurance (CMHI) fund, General Insurance (GI) fund, and Special Risk Insurance (SRI) fund.

Fiscal Year: Any yearly accounting period, regardless of its relationship to a calendar year (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI): A document presenting findings of an Environmental Assessment that a proposed project will not result in an action that will significantly affect the quality of human life. Environmental Review: Public Housing and 24 CFR Part 58 Directive Number: 97-8.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE): One FTE is 2,080 hours of paid employment. The number of FTEs is derived by summing the total number of hours (for which included categories of employees) paid by the appropriate categories of employees, and dividing by 2,080 hours (1 work-year). Appropriate categories include, but are not limited to, overtime hours, hours for full-time permanent employees, temporary employees, and intermittent employees who may not have been paid for an entire reporting period. The number of full-time employees it would take to work the total number of hours worked by all employees during a specific reporting period, regardless of schedules. Operating Manual, The Standard Form 113, Summary Data Reporting System, OPM website, December 1998.

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General Controls: The structure, methods, and procedures that provide the overall control environment affecting the financial management systems (JFMIP Framework). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

General Services Administration (GSA): The largest civilian federal agency buyer of general supplies and services. It provides operational supplies and services to the civilian federal agencies through its federal supply service. Most of these supplies are furnished by independent contractors. The GSA small business centers provide advice to small businesses about GSA's contracting opportunities. GSA website at www.gsa.gov

Government Technical Representative (GTR): HUD program office employees who support contracting personnel in technical and programmatic matters related to contracts. GTRs are chiefly responsible for monitoring contractor performance, inspecting contract products and contractor services, preparing documentation to support acceptance or rejection of contractor work, alerting the CO to potential and actual contract problems, and recommending corrective action (for example, changes to the contract).

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings: Legislation originally passed in 1985 to provide for systematic reduction in the budget deficit by sequestering (permanently withholding from availability) calculated percentages of new budget authority for each program, project, or activity receiving appropriations, if the Administration and Congress do not meet the targets through other means.

Grant: A federal grant may be defined as a form of assistance authorized by statute in which a federal agency (the grantor) transfers something of value to a party (the grantee) usually, but not always, outside of the federal government, for a purpose, undertaking, or activity of the grantee that the government has chosen to assist, to be carried out without substantial involvement on the part of the federal government. The "thing of value" is usually money, but may, depending on the program legislation, also include property or services. The grantee, again depending on the program legislation, may be a state or local government, a nonprofit organization, or a private individual or business entity. Programs administered by state governments comprise the largest category, involving federal outlays of more than $100 billion a year. Principals of Federal Appropriations Law, Volume II GAO/OGC-92-13.

Guideline: A statement suggesting how a given policy or regulation might be implemented.

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Hatch Act: Act prohibiting partisan political activity on the part of Federal employees.

Healthy Homes for Healthy Children: A new life-saving initiative to help parents protect their children from potentially deadly hidden dangers in their homes. www.hud.gov/offices/lead/hhi/index.cfm

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities: HUD grant program administered by the Office of University Partnerships to help Hispanic-serving colleges and universities expand their role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs—neighborhood revitalization, housing, and economic development—in their localities.

HOME: Provides funds to local governments and states for new construction, rehabilitation, acquisition of standard housing, assistance to homebuyers, and tenant-based rental assistance.

HOPE VI: HOPE VI, or the Urban Revitalization program, enables demolition of obsolete public housing, revitalization of public housing sites, and distribution of supportive services to the public housing residents affected by these actions.

Housing: Defined by the Douglas Commission as "both a product and a process." The process is obvious. The product "includes all of the immediate physical environment, both within and outside of buildings in which families and households live, grow, and decline. It is largely man-made. Its primary functions are to provide (1) comfortable shelter; (2) a proper setting, both within the structure and in its neighborhood, for the day-to-day activities of families and households, of small informal groups of children and adults, and of the individuals who make them up; and (3) the focus and location of families and other groups within the larger physical pattern of the family."

Housing Development Grant (HODAG) Program: A grant program authorized by Section 17 of the Housing and Urban Renewal Act.

Housing Finance Agencies (HFA): State or local agencies responsible for financing and preserving privately owned low- and moderate-income housing within the state or locality.

Housing for the Elderly and Handicapped: Program authorized by Section 202 of the National Housing Act. This program provides direct federal loans to nonprofit sponsors for construction and mortgage financing of housing for elderly and handicapped.

Housing Voucher Program: A subsidy payment made directly to a beneficiary of an assisted-housing program.

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Information System: The organized collecting, processing, transmitting, and disseminating of information in accordance with defined procedures, whether automated or manual (JFMIP Framework). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Information Technology (IT): Any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information by the executive agency. For purposes of the preceding sentence, equipment is used by an executive agency if the equipment is used by the executive agency directly or is used by a contractor under a contract with the executive agency that (1) requires the use of such equipment, or (2) requires the use, to a significant extent, of such equipment in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product. It does not include any equipment that is acquired by a federal contractor incidental to a Federal contract. Information Technology Reform Act, Sec 5002.

Inspector General (IG): The head of the Department's Office of Inspector General, appointed by the President, who is responsible for conducting audits and investigations of HUD programs and operations.

Integration: The use of common processes, transmission, and standardized data to effectively and efficiently manage and report on the use of financial resources and to track the financial implications of activities of the federal government (JFMIP Framework). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Internal Control: A process, affected by the management and other personnel of an entity, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories: (1) effectiveness and efficiency of operations and programs, (2) reliability of information and financial reporting, and (3) compliance with applicable laws and regulations (JFMIP Framework). According to GAO, internal control is a plan of organization, methods, and procedures adopted by management to ensure that (1) resource use is consistent with laws, regulations, and policies; (2) resources are safeguarded against waste, loss, and misuse; and (3) reliable data are contained, maintained, and fairly disclosed in reports (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Invitation for Bids (IFB): An IFB is the instrument used to solicit bids for proposed contracts using the sealed bidding procurement method.

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Leased Housing (Public Housing): Housing leased by local housing authorities from private owners for low-income families who receive a subsidized rent through the housing authority.

Letter of Credit: Line of credit to a grant recipient established at the time of approval of application.

Liability: Assets owed for items received, services received, assets acquired, construction performed (regardless of whether invoices have been received), an amount received but not yet earned, or other expenses incurred (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Local Area Network (LAN): Network in a local office linking microcomputer workstations and providing shared access to centralized local databases.

Locality: Includes any city, township, parish, village, or any other general political subdivision of a state.

Low Income: Income that does not exceed 80 percent of area median income.

Low-Income Housing: Housing units that, by reason of rental levels or amount of other charges, are available to families or individuals whose incomes do not exceed the maximum income limits established for continued occupancy in federally assisted low-rent public housing.

Low-Income Housing Development: Any low-income housing developed, acquired, or assisted by a public housing agency. The improvement of any such housing.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC): A way of obtaining financing to develop low-income housing. Government programs provide dollar-for-dollar credit toward taxes owed by the housing owner. These tax credits can be sold, or used to back up bonds that are sold, to obtain financing to develop the housing.

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Mixed-Finance: Refers to the combination of public housing funds with other government and private funds to develop low-income and public housing authorized to PHAs by 24CFR 941.

Mixed-Income: Refers to a resident mix that includes families with various income levels within one development. Mixed-income developments combine public housing families with other residents to decrease the economic and social isolation of these families.

Modernization: Process of upgrading public housing developments when the local housing authority and HUD deem that the physical condition, location, and outmoded management policies in specific developments "adversely affect the quality of living of the tenants." To obtain HUD Modernization funds, the housing authority must, in addition to submitting plans for modernization and rehabilitation of buildings and grounds, involve tenants in such planning, in changing management policies and practices, and in expanding services and facilities available to tenants. Modernization programs involve the sale of housing authority bonds and an adjustment in the Annual Contributions Contract.

Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (MAHRA): A legislative act enacted to preserve low-income rental housing affordability while reducing the long-term costs of federal rental assistance, including project-based assistance, and minimizing the adverse effect on the FHA insurance funds. HUD established the Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring (OMHAR) to administer the Mark-to-Market program and to implement the requirements of the act. Federal Register 9/11/1998 posted on HUD website at www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/omhar/readingrm/mahra.pdf

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National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO): An organization that develops new techniques related to the finance, design, construction, and management of housing. The NAHRO also plays a key role by consulting with federal Agencies and the Congress on the U.S. housing policy.

National Homeownership Foundation (NHF): An organization that encourages private and public organizations at the national, state, and local levels to provide increased homeownership opportunities in urban and rural areas for low-income families.

National League of Cities (NLC): The country's largest and most representative organization serving municipal governments. Founded in 1924, today its direct members include 49 state municipal leagues and 1,500 communities of all sizes. Through the membership of the state municipal leagues, NLC represents more than 18,000 municipalities. National League of Cities website at www.nlc.org

New Directions: Applicants who have never received a grant before to take on eligible work.

New Grants: Applicants who are previous grantee recipients and are taking on new directions in their activities.

No-Year Authority: Budget authority that remains available for obligation for an indefinite period of time, usually until the objectives for which the authority was made available are attained.

Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA): Published in the Federal Register to announce competitive funding programs.

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Obligated Balance: Obligations already incurred for which payment has not yet been made. HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Obligations: An amount corresponding to an order placed, contract awarded, services received, and similar transaction for bona fide needs existing during a given period that will require payment during the same or future period and that complies with applicable laws and regulations (JFMIP Core; A-34, Sec. 21.1,p. 11-7) (SGL, corresponds to Account 4800, Undelivered Orders).

Obligations Incurred: Amounts of orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period. Such amounts will include Outlays to liquidate those obligations (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

OMB Circular A-133: Official Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rule prescribing policies for federal departments and agencies to follow in establishing and maintaining internal controls in program and administrative activities.

Operating Subsidies: Payments authorized by the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 for operating costs of low-rent public housing projects to ensure the low-income character of the projects involved.

Organizational Structure: The offices, divisions, branches, and so forth established within an entity based on responsibility assignments, whether functional or program related (JFMIP Core; Common Term). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

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Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH): An interagency partnership with a goal of reducing the monthly cost of new housing by 20 percent by FY10. The principal categories for monthly housing costs are (1) payments of principal and interest of the mortgage loan, (2) taxes and insurance premiums, (3) utility and other operating costs, and (4) maintenance and repair. Outcome Indicator 1.1.5: Final FY00 Annual Performance Plan, 3/15/1999.

Position Description (PD): A document describing duties, supervisory controls, and responsibilities for a particular position. It classifies those elements and establishes pay schedule, job title, series, grade, and competitive level. The position description describes one or more positions.

Procurement Opportunity Program (POP): Administered by the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSBDU), POP seeks to provide direct contracting and subcontracting opportunities to businesses and organizations that have been designated as eligible for preferential treatment (for example, small, small disadvantaged, and women-owned small businesses).

Program Execution: The processes necessary to carry out program objectives and provide information to monitor and manage program execution activities (JFMIP Framework). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Project: A planned undertaking of something to be accomplished, produced, or constructed, having a finite beginning and finite end. Examples are a construction project or a research and development project (JFMIP Core; SGL p. IV-7). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Public Housing: Housing assisted under the provisions of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 or under a state or local program having the same general purposes as the federal program. Distinguished from privately financed housing, regardless of whether federal subsidies or mortgage insurance are features of such housing development.

Public Housing Agency (PHA): Organization created by local government that administers HUD's Low-Income Public Housing and other HUD programs.

Public Housing Disposition: Refers to the sale or other legal action that a public housing authority takes to release itself from ownership of a public housing project.

Public Housing Operating Funds: All of a local housing authority's development revenues (dwelling rentals, interest income received during the operation of a public housing development, and so forth) operating reserves, and HUD operating subsidies as shown on the local housing authority's operating budget approved by HUD.

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Request for Proposals (RFP): The instrument used to solicit proposals/offers for proposed contracts using the negotiated procurement method.

Request for Quotations (RFQ): The instrument used to solicit price quotes for proposed contracts using the simplified acquisition procurement method.

Rescission: Legislation enacted by Congress that cancels the availability of budgetary resources previously provided by law before the authority would otherwise lapse (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Reimbursement: A sum (1) that is received by the federal government as a repayment for commodities sold or services furnished and (2) that is authorized by law to be credited directly to specific appropriation and fund accounts. These amounts are deducted form the total Obligations Incurred (and outlays) in determining net obligations (and outlays) for such accounts (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Rental Rehabilitation: Grants to cities and states for rental housing rehabilitation. These grants, authorized by Section 17 of the Housing Act of 1937, as amended by the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983, are designed to attract private financing to rehabilitation.

Reservation: A set-aside of funds without the detail of what it will be used for. That is, funds for a particular initiative that are removed from availability although the specific needs for the initiative are not yet defined and the procurement process for that initiative will not be started until some later date.

Resident Management: Involvement of public housing residents in the day-to-day management and maintenance functions of their housing properties through a contract between the PHA and a nonprofit, democratically selected tenant management corporation.

Resident Ownership: A program to provide full homeownership opportunities for residents of public housing and surrounding low-income communities through a combination of direct sales to tenants and conversions, utilizing resident management, corporations and other nonprofit entities. ( See Urban Homesteading).

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Section 3: A section of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 that obligates public housing authorities (PHAs) to afford residents access to jobs and contracting opportunities created by federal funding.

Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP): SHOP enables families to become homeowners with an investment of "sweat equity"—contributing their own labor to help with such tasks as painting, landscaping, carpentry, and roofing. HUD grants will provide subsidies averaging $10,000 to lower the price of each home. Families unable to afford a home and having incomes below 80 percent of the area median income are eligible to receive HUD assistance under SHOP.

Small Business Administration (SBA): SBA offers a wide variety of assistance to small and small disadvantaged businesses. HUD contracting offices work closely with SBA in seeking small business suppliers. Local SBA offices frequently can direct firms to agencies that purchase the products they offer. SBA also can provide names and addresses of prospective military and civilian agency customers. SBA website at www.sba.gov

Subpart F: Refers to 24 CFR Part 941.600, Subpart F, which allows a public housing authority to use a combination of private financing and public housing funds to develop public housing units. Ownership of resulting mixed-finance developments can be held by a third party as well as the housing authority.

Subsidy: Generally, a payment or benefit made where the benefit exceeds the cost to the beneficiary (GAO). HUDCAPS Core Financial System Standard Accounting Interface, dated 9/30/97.

Substandard Housing: A dwelling unit that is either dilapidated or unsafe, thus endangering the health and safety of the occupant, or that does not have adequate plumbing or heating facilities.

Supportive Housing Program (SHP): SHP promotes the development of supportive housing and supportive services, including innovative approaches that assist homeless persons in the transition from homelessness and enable them to live as independently as possible. SHP funds may be used to provide transitional housing, permanent housing for persons with disabilities, innovative supportive housing, supportive services, or safe havens for the homeless. HUDWEB, Continuum of Care and Veterans Programs Glossary.

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Target Area: The locality or area within the locality in which your institution will implement its proposed HUD grant.

Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (CDBG): Title that authorized assistance to community by block grants in place of categorical grants.

Total Development Cost (TDC): The sum of all HUD-approved costs for a project, including all undertakings necessary for administration, planning, site acquisition, demolition, construction, or equipment and financing (including the payment of carrying charges), and for otherwise carrying out the development of the project. The maximum total development cost excludes off-site water and sewer facilities development costs; costs normally paid for by other entities, but included in the development cost budget for the project for contracting or accounting convenience; and any donations received from public or private sources. 24 CFR Part 950.102.

Turnkey: Housing initially financed and built by private sponsors and purchased by housing authorities for use by low-income families under the Public Housing Program.

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Urban Homesteading: The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 authorized sale of publicly owned properties to qualified individuals at minimal cost based on individual's agreement to rehabilitate and occupy the property for a set period of time. This program was expanded by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, which authorized resident management and ownership of public housing (see Resident Ownership).

Urban Revitalization Demonstration: Original name of the HOPE VI program.

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Very-Low-Income Families: As defined in the 1983 amendments to the U.S. Housing Act of 1937: Families whose income for a given area, as determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, with adjustments for smaller and larger families except that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may establish higher and lower income ceilings on the basis of findings that such variations are necessary because of unusually high or low family incomes.

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Youthbuild: A HUD initiative that funds programs that help young high school dropouts obtain education, employment skills, and meaningful onsite work experience in a construction trade. HUD website at www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/economicdevelopment/programs/youthbuild/index.cfm

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