What is IHBG Formula?

Funds appropriated by Congress for the Indian Housing Block Grant Program (IHBG) are made available to eligible grant recipients through a formula. Regulations governing the formula can be found at 24 CFR Part 1000, Subpart D. On November 22, 2016, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Final Rule was published revising the IHBG Formula.

In brief, the formula has four components; Need, Formula Current Assisted Stock, 1996 Minimum, and Undisbursed IHBG funds factor. The Need component considers population, income, and housing conditions. The Formula Current Assisted Stock component reflects housing developed under the United States Housing Act (the predecessor of the IHBG program) which is owned and/or operated by the IHBG recipient and provides funds for ongoing operation of the housing. The 1996 minimum provides adjustments when an Indian tribe is allocated more or less funding under the IHBG formula than it received in FY 1996 for operating subsidy and modernization. The Undisbursed IHBG funds factor provides adjustments for tribes with an initial allocation of $5 million or more and has undisbursed IHBG funds in an amount greater than the sum of the prior three years’ initial allocation calculations.

An Indian tribe may challenge the Need portion of the IHBG formula provided the data are gathered, evaluated, and presented in a manner that is fair and equitable for all participating tribes. Tribes have until March 30 of each year to submit challenges to their Needs data in consideration for the upcoming fiscal year. Guidelines for submitting Census challenges are available below.

HUD has until June 1 of each fiscal year to report to recipients their annual IHBG estimated allocation and the data used to compute the estimated allocation. The Formula Response Form (FRF) is designated by 24 CFR 1000.302 as the form recipients use to report data changes to HUD. It is the recipients' responsibility to report any discrepancies or changes in their IHBG data to HUD. Tribes have until August 1st of each year to submit corrections to Formula Current Assisted Stock, Formula Area, Population Cap and Overlapping Formula Area data in consideration for the upcoming fiscal year. In accordance with Section 1000.315 the FRF is the only mechanism that a recipient shall use to report changes to the number of FCAS.