Council authorizes randomized LMI survey to restore citywide CDBG eligibility

Moscow City Council authorized staff to proceed with a randomized low‑to‑moderate income (LMI) household survey required by the Idaho Department of Commerce to determine citywide CDBG eligibility.

Planner/Grants staff explained the city’s American Community Survey–based LMI share had fallen to 50.9%, below the 51% threshold used by Commerce for citywide projects. Staff presented a mail‑based, Department of Commerce–approved methodology: draw from a purchased address list (~12,186 residential addresses, excluding PO boxes), mail roughly 372 randomly selected surveys to reach a minimum of 279 valid responses (75% of the sample), provide a postage‑paid return envelope and a QR code/link for an online response, follow up with postcards and door‑to‑door interviews for nonrespondents, and keep all responses confidential and identified only by randomly assigned unique IDs.

Staff proposed mail on Oct. 20 with staged reminders and door‑to‑door follow‑up starting Oct. 10 and completion of analysis by mid‑November. Staff noted Department of Commerce allows up to 75 days for the survey process and permits replacement draws from preselected addresses if necessary. Council approved staff moving forward with the survey process by motion and roll call vote.

Next steps: staff will begin outreach, conduct the mailings and follow‑up, and submit results to the Department of Commerce. If the final tabulation reaches 51% LMI, the city would regain city‑wide LMI eligibility for five years.