Sec. 2604.5. Hardship assistance

(a) The corporation may provide hardship assistance in those cases where the corporation, in its discretion, determines financial hardship exists. In making such determination, the corporation may consider whether the total estimated annual service charge for a household or equivalent dwelling unit in the area served by the project, calculated using the maximum interest rate applicable to the project, exceeds the target service charge. The provisions relating to hardship assistance shall be published annually in the IUP.

(b) To the extent such hardship assistance includes a principal subsidy, the corporation shall give preference in the granting of such subsidies to small and rural communities.

(c) To the extent such hardship assistance includes State assistance payments, the corporation shall give preference to recipients which would be unable to carry out such eligible projects in the absence of such grant or State assistance payments without creating a financial hardship on system users.

(d) The applicable terms of the hardship assistance are those which bring the estimated service charge closest to the target service charge. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the corporation may also consider other conditions deemed relevant to adjust the terms of the hardship assistance if such adjustment is necessary to reflect actual financial needs (or lack thereof).

(e) Hardship assistance in the form of a grant or reduced interest rate financing may be provided only for an eligible recipient's project or allocable portion thereof and shall be limited to the amounts published in the IUP. Hardship assistance will not be provided for a segment of a recipient's project if the total cost of all segments of such project exceeds the hardship limit. The corporation may provide a written confirmation that a potential recipient qualifies for hardship assistance because of financial hardship.