(a) A consortium of geographically contiguous units of general local government is a unit of general local government for purposes of this part if the requirements of this section are met.

(1) One or more members of a proposed consortium or an existing consortium whose consortium qualification terminates at the end of the fiscal year, must provide written notification to the HUD Field Office of its intent to participate as a consortium in the HOME Program for the following fiscal year. HUD shall establish the deadline for this submission.

(2) The proposed consortium must provide, at such time and in a manner and form prescribed by HUD, the qualification documents, which will include submission of:

(i) A written certification by the State that the consortium will direct its activities to alleviation of housing problems within the State; and

(ii) Documentation which demonstrates that the consortium has executed one legally binding cooperation agreement among its members authorizing one member unit of general local government to act in a representative capacity for all member units of general local government for the purposes of this part and providing that the representative member assumes overall responsibility for ensuring that the consortium's HOME Program is carried out in compliance with the requirements of this part.

(3) Before the end of the fiscal year in which the notice of intent and documentation are submitted, HUD must determine that a proposed consortium has sufficient authority and administrative capability to carry out the purposes of this part on behalf of its member jurisdictions. HUD will endeavor to make its determination as quickly as practicable after receiving the consortium's documentation in order to provide the consortium an opportunity to correct its submission, if necessary. If the submission is deficient, HUD will work with the consortium to resolve the issue, but will not delay the formula allocations. HUD, at its discretion, may review the performance of an existing consortium that wishes to requalify to determine whether it continues to have sufficient authority and administrative capacity to successfully administer the program.

(b) A metropolitan city or an urban county may be a member of a consortium. A unit of general local government that is included in an urban county may be part of a consortium, only if the urban county joins the consortium. The included local government cannot join the consortium except through participation in the urban county.

(c) A non-urban county may be a member of a consortium. However, the county cannot on its own include the whole county in the consortium. A unit of local government located within the non-urban county that wishes to participate as a member of the consortium must sign the HOME consortium agreement.

(d) If the representative unit of general local government distributes HOME funds to member units of general local government, the representative unit is responsible for applying to the member units of general local government the same requirements as are applicable to subrecipients.

(e) The consortium's qualification as a unit of general local government continues for a period of three successive Federal fiscal years, or until HUD revokes its designation as a participating jurisdiction, or until an urban county member fails to requalify under the CDBG program as an urban county for a fiscal year included in the consortium's qualification period, or the consortium fails to receive a HOME allocation for the first Federal fiscal year of the consortium's qualification period and does not request to be considered to receive a HOME allocation in each of the subsequent two years. However, if a member urban county's three year CDBG qualification cycle is not the same as the consortium, the consortium may elect a shorter qualification period than three years to synchronize with the urban county's qualification period. During the period of qualification, additional units of general local government may join the consortium, but no included unit of general local government may withdraw from the consortium. See 24 CFR part 91, subpart E, for consolidated plan requirements for consortia, including the requirement that all members of the consortia must be on the same program year.

(f) The consortium agreement may, at the option of its member units of general local government, contain a provision that authorizes automatic renewals for the successive qualification period of three Federal fiscal years. The provision authorizing automatic renewal must require the lead consortium member to give the consortium members written notice of their right to elect not to continue participation for the new qualification period.

(a) To be eligible to become a participating jurisdiction, a unit of general local government must have a formula allocation under § 92.50 that is equal to or greater than $750,000; or

(b) If a unit of general local government's formula allocation is less than $750,000, HUD must find:

(1) The unit of general local government has a local PHA and has demonstrated a capacity to carry out the provisions of this part, as evidenced by satisfactory performance under one or more HUD-administered programs that provide assistance for activities comparable to the eligible activities under this part; and

(2) The State has authorized HUD to transfer to the unit of general local government a portion of the State's allocation or the State, the unit of general local government, or both, has made available its own resources such that the sum of the amounts transferred or made available are equal to or greater than the difference between the unit of general local government's formula allocation and $750,000.

(c) In fiscal years in which Congress appropriates less than $1.5 billion for this part, $500,000 is substituted for $750,000 each time it appears in this section.

(a) Not later than 30 days after receiving notice of its formula allocation amount, a jurisdiction must notify HUD in writing of its intention to become a participating jurisdiction.

(b) A unit of general local government that has a formula allocation of less than $750,000, or less than $500,000 in fiscal years in which Congress appropriates less than $1.5 billion for this part, must submit, with its notice, one or more of the following, as appropriate, as evidence that it has met the threshold allocation requirements in § 92.102(b):

(1) Authorization from the State to transfer a portion of its allocation to the unit of general local government;

(2) A letter from the governor or designee indicating that the required funds have been approved and budgeted for the unit of general local government;

(3) A letter from the chief executive officer of the unit of general local government indicating that the required funds have been approved and budgeted.

A jurisdiction that has not submitted a consolidated plan to HUD must submit to HUD, not later than 90 calendar days after providing notification under § 92.103, a consolidated plan in accordance with 24 CFR part 91.

When a jurisdiction has complied with the requirements of §§ 92.102 through 92.104 and HUD has approved the jurisdiction's consolidated plan in accordance with 24 CFR part 91, HUD will designate the jurisdiction as a participating jurisdiction.

Once a State or unit of general local government is designated a participating jurisdiction, it remains a participating jurisdiction for subsequent fiscal years and the requirements of §§ 92.102 through 92.105 do not apply, unless HUD revokes the designation in accordance with § 92.107.

HUD may revoke a jurisdiction's designation as a participating jurisdiction if:

(a) HUD finds, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing as provided in § 92.552(b) that the jurisdiction is unwilling or unable to carry out the provisions of this part, including failure to meet matching contribution requirements; or

(b) The jurisdiction's formula allocation falls below $750,000 (or below $500,000 in fiscal years in which Congress appropriates less than $1.5 billion for this part) for three consecutive years, below $625,000 (or below $410,000 in fiscal years in which Congress appropriates less than $1.5 billion for this part) for two consecutive years, or the jurisdiction does not receive a formula allocation in any one year.

(c) When HUD revokes a participating jurisdiction's designation as a participating jurisdiction, HUD will reallocate any remaining funds in the jurisdiction's HOME Investment Trust Fund established under § 92.500 in accordance with § 92.451.