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In terms of transit, the County receives most of its funding through the federal Section 5307 grant program. To obtain those federal Section 5307 funds, the County must complete an application and follow a process that includes several steps. For FY 2014/15, the first step is to apply for state Block Grant funds. Subsequent steps include applying for federal capital and operating assistance and applying for Florida toll revenue credits for use as a soft match for federal capital assistance. According to state regulations, Block Grant funds may be used for both eligible capital and operating costs of public transit providers. Because the local match requirement for the capital portion of the County's FY 2014/15 Section 5307 grant may be met by soft -match rather than cash -match funds (which effectively provides for 100% federal funding of capital expenses), the entire FY 2014/15 Block Grant is proposed as a partial match for Section 5307 operating funds. Pursuant to state regulations, Block Grant funds may not exceed 50% of the nonfederal share oftotal eligible operating expenses of transit service provision. Also, activities funded with Block Grant funds must be consistent with applicable approved local government comprehensive and transit plans. To receive the Block Grant funds, the County must enter into a Joint Participation Agreement with FDOT, a copy of which is attached to this staff report (Attachment #2). ANALYSIS As with the FTA Section 5307 grant program, only public agencies may be designated recipients of Block Grant funds, although the funds may be passed through to a nonprofit provider. Under these restrictions, SRA has requested that the Board of County Commissioners apply for state Block Grant funds on its behalf. The attached Joint Participation Agreement (JPA) is an agreement between FDOT and Indian River County specifying the requirements which the County must meet in order to receive Block Grant funds. One of the most important of these requirements is that the County prepare and approve an annual update to its Transit Development Plan (TDP). The attached resolution (Attachment #1) authorizes the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners to execute the JPA for Public Transportation Block Grant funds. Upon the Board's adoption of the resolution and the Chairman's execution of the JPA, County staff will transmit the JPA to FDOT. Once the JPA has been executed by FDOT, the funds will be transmitted to the County and passed along to the Senior Resource Association (SRA), the County's public transportation provider, so that the SRA can continue providing fixed route and demand -response transit service. The provision of such service is consistent with the findings of the MPO's adopted 10 -year Transit Development Plan and 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan. FUNDING Funding in the amount of $457,662 is budgeted and available in the General Fund/Community Transportation Coordinator account (Account Number 00111041-088230). These funds are part of the allocation given to the Senior Resource Association to provide transit service in the county. F:\Community Development\Users\MPO\Transit\Grants\Block\2015-2019\2015 staff report.docx 2 22