USDA Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan Program

OneRDGuarantee@usda.gov

USDA Rural Development State Offices

The Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan Program guarantees loans from eligible private lenders to help build essential community facilities in rural areas.

Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and/or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment, and pay related project expenses.

Examples of essential community facilities include:

• Healthcare facilities and services
• Fire, rescue, and public safety facilities and services
• Community, public, social, educational, or cultural facilities or services
• Transportation facilities such as streets, bridges, roads, ports, and airports
• Certain utility projects when not eligible for Rural Utilities Service financing, gas distribution systems, recycling and transfer centers or stations
• Telecommunications end-user equipment when related to public safety, medical, or educational telecommunication links when not eligible for Rural Utilities Service financing
• Water infrastructure facilities such as levees, dams, reservoirs, inland waterways, canals, and irrigation systems
• Purchase and installation of renewable energy systems for use by an essential community facility
• Land acquisition and necessary site preparation including access ways and utility extensions to and throughout an industrial park site
• Community parks, community activity centers, and similar types of facilities

Private lenders may apply for a loan guarantee on loans made to an eligible borrower that is unable to obtain the needed commercial credit on reasonable terms without the guarantee.

Eligible borrowers include:

• Public bodies
• Nonprofit organizations
• Federally recognized tribes
• Tribes on federal and state reservations

Eligible areas are rural areas with populations of 50,000 residents or less.

Loan amounts vary, with a maximum amount of $100,000,000. USDA will guarantee 80% of eligible loans.

Lenders may visit the streamlined OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative website for detailed application information. (Lender Guide)

Borrowers may begin the application process by contacting the appropriate USDA Rural Development state office to discuss the project. The state office will discuss funding options and refer eligible applicants to approved guaranteed loan lenders or to additional USDA Community Facilities loan and grant programs.

The state office will also work with eligible lenders to get them on the approved lender list.