Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cdbg Application Technology Migration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Travis County moves CDBG 'resolution of no objection' process from PDF to Smartsheet, staff cites $300-per-license cost
Summary
Travis County's Community Development Block Grant office told commissioners it has moved the Resolution of No Objection (RONO) application from a PDF to the Smartsheet platform to improve tracking and file handling; staff said the county holds 10–12 annual licenses at about $300 each.
Travis County staff told Commissioners Court on Feb. 4 that the county's CDBG office has migrated its Resolution of No Objection (RONO) application from a fillable PDF to the Smartsheet online platform to improve tracking and data handling.
The update matters because the RONO is used to screen projects for fair-housing impacts and is required for developments seeking Low Income Housing Tax Credits under Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) guidelines. Ying Gutepeda, CDBG planning manager, said the move is intended to streamline submissions, allow larger attachments and give staff real-time visibility into applications.
"The resolution of no objection or RONO is a key part of ensuring Travis County is affirmatively furthering fair housing with a fair housing screen," Gutepeda said. She said the previous PDF form was about 10 pages and could expand to roughly 100 pages when attachments were included, creating limits on text fields and file-size problems.
Gutepeda and Monique Coleman, Supportive Housing Division director, told the court that Smartsheet centralizes the information, makes it easier for multiple people to collaborate, and allows staff to export form responses to Excel for analysis. Coleman confirmed the county has an annual license agreement with the vendor Smartsheet and said the office already uses the tool on other supportive housing and CDBG projects.
Commissioner Sherry asked about the cost and vendor. Gutepeda said the license cost is "$300 per license" and the office has "10 or 12" licenses, and Coleman confirmed Smartsheet is the vendor and that the product is cloud-based.
The CDBG office said it has notified affected parties of the change: staff emailed 12 developers and five partner organizations that had submitted loans to the county since 2017, updated links on the county HHS and CDBG webpages, and posted notices to Facebook, X and Nextdoor. Gutepeda said these outreach steps were taken to help the transition.
No court action was required; the item was presented as a 10-minute briefing and recorded as an informational update.
The county will continue to accept RONO submissions through the new Smartsheet intake and staff said they will provide guidance to applicants as needed.
