Frequently Asked Questions
General
Q: Who are eligible applicants?
A: Applicants are cities, counties, government authorities and multi-county or multi-jurisdictional development authorities.
Q: Which counties are eligible to apply for OneGeorgia funds?
A: A few of the OneGeorgia Programs have specific eligibility, but generally OneGeorgia recognizes those counties as directly eligible for assistance that meet the definition of "a county that is located outside the boundaries of a metropolitan area with a population of 50,000 or less and with a poverty rate of 10% or greater." Conditionally eligible counties are those with a population of less than 500,000 that share a border with a directly eligible rural county. Conditionally eligible counties are recognized as having the opportunity to be important collaborative partners to adjacent rural counties by maximizing regional strengths and minimizing weaknesses. These collaborative efforts can support mutually beneficial goals for the region and are meant to support a large, regional economic development project when it is most economically feasible for a directly eligible rural county to partner in a regional application with a conditionally eligible county to achieve sustainable and quantifiable positive economic and public benefit. Counties with a population greater than 500,000 are not eligible for OneGeorgia funds, but continue to be eligible for other state and federal community and economic development programs. Such programs include Regional Economic Business Assistance (REBA), Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Local Development Funds (LDF), TEA-21 grants, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and many more.
Q: What happens if my county's eligibility status changes?
A: Several counties may indeed change eligibility on January 1st of each year. If the OneGeorgia Authority receives an application after January 1st, the county’s eligibility status will be based on the newest estimated source data.
Q: What is the source data used to determine eligibility?
A: 1) County Population – Source data from the United States Census Bureau, Population Division --Table 2: Annual Estimates of the Population by Sex and Age for Georgia 2) County Poverty Rate – Source data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Decennial Census (Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3) Sample data. 3) Per Capita Income – Source data from Claritas: Annual Demographic Update
Q: Can non-profits compete for OneGeorgia funds?
A: Non-profit organizations are not eligible applicants; however, eligible recipients may choose to contract with non-profits to perform certain services or functions and therefore would be viewed as sub-recipients of OneGeorgia Authority funds.
Q: Can private businesses be recipients of OneGeorgia funds?
A: Businesses may not be applicants but may be sub-recipients. Typically, OneGeorgia Authority funds would be used to acquire or improve assets (such as land, buildings, machinery, etc…) that are then provided by the eligible applicant to a business entity through a lease agreement.
Q: What happens to loans that are repaid to the Authority?
A: Loan money, along with interest, repaid to the Authority will be used to help finance future community and economic development projects of the Authority.