Attachment C: Telephone Contact and Letter Contact

OMB Attachment C Telephone Contact and Letter Contact

Indian Housing Operating Cost (IHOC) Study

Attachment C:

Telephone contact and letter contact

Telephone Contact with Tribes/TDHEs

Note: This guide will be used for the first telephone contact with Tribes/TDHEs as the IHOC contractors seek to obtain existing records of operating expenditures for 1937 Act units. After reviewing submissions additional contacts may be made. The specific topics to be addressed in these additional contacts will depend on the records submitted in response to the first contact.

Telephone Introduction INTERVIEWER WILL STATE THESE POINTS IN CONVERSATION WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Introduction and description of study

My name is_____, and I work for the Building Research Council. We are a contractor that is working on the Indian Housing Operating Cost Study. In January 2005, you received a letter from Assistant Secretary Liu and Deputy Assistant Secretary Rodger Boyd informing you that ONAP was funding a study of the current cost of operating 1937 Act housing units, fulfilling a commitment that HUD made during recent IHBG Formula Negotiated Rulemaking.

OMB Disclosure

I would like to remind you that the Tribe/TDHE’s participation in the study is voluntary, and that any expressions of personal opinion you provide will be kept confidential and private to the extent allowed by the law. Also, taking part in this data collection will not affect any benefits and services received by the Tribe/TDHE. The information you provide is important because it can assist future Negotiated Rulemaking Committees to hold informed discussions.

Collecting and sending information for this study will take about 4 hours of your staff time. To account for any follow-up discussions the public reporting burden for this collection of information is 5 hours. The information is being collected for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This agency may not collect this information, and you are not required to provide it, without a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this information collection is [insert OMB number when available].

Background

Since the study was announced in January 2005 the study team, directed by Professor James Anderson of the University of Illinois, has worked to determine what data should be collected to represent the costs of operating 1937 Act housing, and where this data might best be found. The team has participated in discussions at each of the regional housing associations, responded to comments received by telephone and email, conducted visits with TDHEs or Tribes in every ONAP area.

The study team found that examination of existing TDHE and Tribal documents is the most direct way to develop an accurate assessment of 1937 Act housing costs. Now the study team seeks to collect these existing documents from as many TDHEs and Tribes as possible.

Request for information

I am calling to ask that your Tribe/TDHE participate in the Indian Housing Operating Cost (IHOC) study by providing the researchers with the following information:

• statements of your Tribe/TDHE’s expenditures, e.g. the Operating Statement or Statement of Operating Receipts and Expenses,

  • for Fiscal Years 2002, 2003, and 2004

  • with separate statements for Low Rent, Mutual Help, and general expenses, and

  • in an electronic format, if available

Please send the statements of expenditures to the study team by Xxxx nn, 2006. If you have copies of your chart of accounts and organizational chart, the study team would also find those useful. Documents may be sent by email or by mail.

Email: jimand@uiuc.edu, or

Mail: Indian Housing Operating Cost Study

Building Research Council

One East St. Mary’s Road

Champaign, Il 61820

The IHOC Study team will enter information from these documents into a database of operating expenditures for 1937 projects. After completing a review of your documents, the study team may contact you to clarify the data if necessary, and to provide you with a copy of their summary of 1937 Act expenditures for your TDHE.

If you have questions you can speak with the IHOC team by phone (toll-free) at 1-877-307-7539. There is also a web site devoted to this study: http://www.indianhousingcosts.org.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Contact Name:_______________________________________________

Contact Phone Number:________________________________________

Tribe/TDHE Name:_____________________________________________________

Date: _______/_______/_______

MM DD YYYY

Name of Caller:_____________________________________

Letter Contact with Tribes/TDHEs

Note: This guide will be used for the first letter contact with Tribes/TDHEs as the IHOC contractors seek to obtain existing records of operating expenditures for 1937 Act units. After reviewing submissions additional contacts may be made. The specific topics to be addressed in these additional contacts will depend on the records submitted in response to the first contact.

Dear Executive Director:

In January 2005, you received a letter from Assistant Secretary Liu and Deputy Assistant Secretary Rodger Boyd informing you that ONAP was funding a study of the current cost of operating 1937 Act housing units, fulfilling a commitment that HUD made during recent Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) Formula Negotiated Rulemaking.

I am writing to ask you to participate in this study. First, I would like to remind you that Tribe/TDHE’s participation in the study is voluntary, and that any expressions of personal opinion you provide will be kept confidential and private to the extent allowed by the law. Also, taking part in this data collection will not affect any benefits and services received by the Tribe/TDHE. The information you provide is important because it can assist future Negotiated Rulemaking Committees to hold informed discussions.

This information collection will take about 4 hours of your staff time. To account for any follow-up discussions that might occure, the public reporting burden for this collection of information is 5 hours. The information is being collected for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This agency may not collect this information, and you are not required to provide it without a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this information collection is [insert OMB number when available].

Since its announcement in January 2005, the study team, directed by Professor James Anderson of the University of Illinois, has worked to determine what data should be collected to represent the costs of operating 1937 Act housing, and where this data might best be found. The team has participated in discussions at each of the regional housing associations, responded to comments received by telephone and email, conducted visits with TDHEs or Tribes in each ONAP area.

The study team has found that examination of existing TDHE and Tribal documents is the most direct way to develop an accurate assessment of 1937 Act housing costs. Now the study team seeks to collect these existing documents from as many TDHEs and Tribes as possible.

I am asking that your Tribe/TDHE participate in the Indian Housing Operating Cost (IHOC) study by providing the researchers with the following information:

• statements of your Tribe/TDHE’s expenditures, e.g. the Operating Statement or Statement Of Operating Receipts and Expenses,

  • for Fiscal Years 2002, 2003, and 2004

  • with separate statements for Low Rent, Mutual Help, and general expenses, if available, and

  • in an electronic format, if available

Please send the statements of expenditures to the study team by Xxxx nn, 2006. If you have copies of your chart of accounts and organizational chart, the study team would also find those useful. Documents may be sent by email or by mail to the address below.

Email: jimand@uiuc.edu

Indian Housing Operating Cost Study

Building Research Council

One East St. Mary’s Road

Champaign, Il 61820

The IHOC Study team will enter information from these documents into a database of operating expenditures for 1937 projects. After completing a review of your documents, the study team may contact you to clarify the data if necessary, and to provide you with a copy of their summary of 1937 Act expenditures for your TDHE.

If you have questions you can speak with the IHOC team by phone (toll-free) at 1-877-307-7539. There is also a web site devoted to this study: http://www.indianhousingcosts.org.

Thank you for assisting in this study.

Sincerely,

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