(a) The Department distributes funds to Subrecipients by an allocation formula.
(b) The formula allocates funds based on the number of low income Households in a Service Area and takes into account the special needs of individual Service Areas. The need for energy assistance in an area is addressed through a weather factor (based on heating and cooling degree days). The extra expense in delivering services in sparsely populated areas is addressed by an inverse population density factor. The lack of additional services available in very poor counties is addressed by a county median income factor. Finally, the Elderly are given priority by giving greater weight to this population. The five factors used in the formula are calculated as:
  (1) County Non-Elderly Poverty Household Factor (weight of 40%)--Defined by the Department as the number of Non-Elderly Poverty Households in the county divided by the number of Non-Elderly Poverty Households in the State;
  (2) County Elderly Poverty Household Factor (weight of 40%)--Defined by the Department as the number of Elderly Poverty Households in the county divided by the number of Elderly Poverty Households in the State;
  (3) County Inverse Household Population Density Factor (weight of 5%)--Defined by the Department as:
    (A) The number of square miles of the county divided by the number of Poverty Households of the county (equals the Inverse Poverty Household Population Density of the county); and
    (B) Inverse Poverty Household Population Density of the county divided by the sum of Inverse Household Densities;
  (4) County Median Income Variance Factor (weight of 5%)--Defined by the Department as:
    (A) State Median Income minus the County Median Income (equals county variance); and
    (B) County Variance divided by sum of the State County Variances; and
  (5) County Weather Factor (weight of 10%)--Defined by the Department as:
    (A) County heating degree days plus the county cooling degree days, multiplied by the poverty Households, divided by the sum of county heating degree days and county cooling degree days of counties (equals County Weather); and
    (B) County Weather divided by the total sum of the State County Weather.
(c) All demographic factors are based on the most recent decennial U.S. Census for which Census Bureau published information is available.
(d) The total sum of subsection (b)(1) - (5) of this section, multiplied by total funds allocation, equals the county's allocation of funds. The sum of the county allocations within each Subrecipient Service Area equals the Subrecipient's total allocation of funds.
(e) The Department may, in the future, undertake to reprocure the entities that comprise the network of CEAP providers, in which case this allocation formula will be reassessed and, if material changes are needed, amended by rulemaking.

Source Note: The provisions of this §6.303 adopted to be effective December 2, 2021, 46 TexReg 8012