Community Facilities financing pays for the buildings a rural community needs rather than the businesses it hosts: clinics and hospitals, schools and childcare, fire and police stations, libraries and community centres. There are two routes — a guaranteed loan through a commercial lender, and a grant awarded on a graduated scale that favours the smallest and lowest-income communities.
What counts: an essential community facility — a public improvement requisite to the beneficial and orderly development of a community, operated on a non-profit basis (7 CFR 3570.53).
Where: the facility must primarily serve a rural area and be located in one.
Guaranteed loans: processed under 7 CFR part 5001, with a financial feasibility report prepared by a qualified firm or individual acceptable to the Agency.
Grants: graduated from 15 to 75 percent of eligible development cost by community population and median household income, and never more than 75 percent (7 CFR 3570.63).
Grant assistance is provided on a graduated scale: smaller communities with the lowest median household incomes qualify for a higher proportion of grant funds. The income test is measured against the higher of the poverty line or a stated percentage of the State non-metropolitan median household income.
| Share of project | Community population | Median household income below the higher of the poverty line or… |
|---|---|---|
| 75 percent | 5,000 or less | 60 percent of the State non-metropolitan median |
| 60 percent | 20,000 or less | 90 percent of the State non-metropolitan median — available only to disaster-impacted communities as the rule provides |
| 55 percent | 12,000 or less | 70 percent of the State non-metropolitan median |
| 35 percent | 20,000 or less | 80 percent of the State non-metropolitan median |
| 15 percent | 50,000 or less | 90 percent of the State non-metropolitan median |
An applicant receives the higher of the percentages it qualifies for, and the award may still be limited by available funds or by a maximum the Agency sets. Grant funds may not pay more than 75 percent of the cost to develop the facility, may not fund facilities in non-rural areas except as the rule allows, and may not be used where the median household income of the population served is above the eligible percentage.
A CF guaranteed loan is processed under the OneRD rule. 7 CFR 5001.304 requires the lender to submit a financial feasibility report prepared by a qualified firm or individual acceptable to the Agency — which may be the lender — following the format in appendix B to subpart D. The rule then names the cases where the fuller requirement is relaxed:
Against that, the Agency may require a feasibility study wherever the lender’s analysis, the borrower’s business plan or the project information is not sufficient to determine technical feasibility, market feasibility or economic viability — and for guaranteed loans greater than $1,000,000 to a new entity or an entity conducting a new activity, a feasibility study prepared by an independent qualified consultant acceptable to the Agency is required. Where a financial feasibility study with an examination opinion is called for, it must be prepared under the attestation standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the preparer must carry the requisite professional liability cover.
The population to be served, the service gap the facility closes, and the evidence that the need is current rather than aspirational.
Projected volumes — patient days, enrolments, call volumes — derived from demographics and comparable facilities, not from capacity.
For health care especially, the payer mix and reimbursement assumptions that determine whether projected revenue is collectible.
Coverage tested against downside utilisation, with the sponsor’s tax or levy support treated on its own terms.
Our service page for this work is USDA Community Facilities feasibility studies, and rural hospital projects have their own page at critical access hospital feasibility.
Last reviewed September 2026. Figures are quoted from the current text of 7 CFR part 3570 subpart B and 7 CFR part 5001.
We prepare the independent feasibility analysis the loan or grant file needs. Fixed fee quoted in one business day.
Schedule a Qualification Zoom CF feasibility study serviceLegal disclosure. Wert-Berater, Inc. offices are mailing addresses only. Following the COVID-19 pandemic the firm has elected to work remotely; its office locations receive mail and are not staffed for visitors or in-person meetings. Headquarters mailing address: 1968 South Coast Hwy, Ste 2382, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.
Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.