Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, if your program continues to receive funding after an initial three-year grant period, you must continue to meet the minimum requirements in §2541.45 of this part. In addition, your required share of program costs, including member support and operating costs, will incrementally increase to a 50 percent overall share by the tenth year and any year thereafter that you receive a grant, without a break in funding of five years or more. A 50 percent overall match means that you will be required to match $1 for every $1 you receive from the Corporation.

(a) Minimum Organization Share:

(1) Subject to the requirements of §2521.45 of this part, and except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, your overall share of program costs will increase as of the fourth consecutive year that you receive a grant, according to the following timetable:

(2) A grantee must have contributed matching resources by the end of a grant period in an amount equal to the combined total of the minimum overall annual match for each year of the grant period, according to the table in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

(3) A State commission may meet its match based on the aggregate of its grantees' individual match requirements.

(b) Alternative match requirements: If your program is unable to meet the match requirements as required in paragraph (a) of this section, and is located in a rural or a severely economically distressed community, you may apply to the Corporation for a waiver that would require you to increase the overall amount of your share of program costs beginning in the seventh consecutive year that you receive a grant, according to the following table:

(c) Determining Program Location.

(1) The Corporation will determine whether your program is located in a rural county by considering the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Beale Codes.

(2) The Corporation will determine whether your program is located in a severely economically distressed county by considering unemployment rates, per capita income, and poverty rates.

(3) Unless the Corporation approves otherwise, as provided in paragraph (c)(4) of this section, the Corporation will determine the location of your program based on the legal applicant's address.

(4) If you believe that the legal applicant's address is not the appropriate way to consider the location of your program, you may request the waiver described in paragraph (b) of this section and provide the relevant facts about your program location to support your request.

(d) Schedule for current program grants: If you have completed at least one three-year grant cycle on the date this regulation takes effect, you will be required to provide your share of costs beginning at the year three level, according to the table in paragraph (a) of this section, in the first program year in your grant following the regulation's effective date, and increasing each year thereafter as reflected in the table.

(e) Flexibility in how you provide your share: As long as you meet the basic match requirements in §2521.45, you may use cash or in-kind contributions to reach the overall share level. For example, if your organization finds it easier to raise member support match, you may choose to meet the required overall match by raising only more member support match, and leave operational match at the basic level, as long as you provide the required overall match.

(f) Reporting excess resources.

(1) The Corporation encourages you to obtain support over-and-above the matching fund requirements. Reporting these resources may make your application more likely to be selected for funding, based on the selection criteria in §§2522.430 and 2522.435 of these regulations.

(2) You must comply with §2543.23 of this title and applicable OMB circulars in documenting cash and in-kind contributions and excess resources.

[70 FR 39598, July 8, 2005]