Housing and Neighborhood Programs presented a year‑to‑date summary to the board and requested increased funding for demolition, lot maintenance and other neighborhood services while outlining the status of the Little Rock Microhome Village. Director Kevin Howard (speaking as Director Howard) and Assistant Director Celicia Nichols told the board the department has demolished roughly 76 properties so far this year and expects to reach 80 to 90 by year end; they said demolition funding historically has been about $500,000 and the department is seeking higher allocations now that activity has increased.

The department listed specific budget requests in the presentation: demolition $325,000; board-and-secure $55,000; lot maintenance $475,000; neighborhood challenge grants $50,000; land bank $50,000. The department also requested five additional rental/code officers (a budgeted personnel cost of $242,320) and vehicle fleet funding for those officers; the fleet figure was read aloud as $142,190,000 in the transcript, but department staff and budget materials indicate the intended fleet amount is a much smaller fleet allocation (clarified below).

On homelessness and shelter initiatives, the department updated the board on the Little Rock Microhome Village: site grading is about 90% complete, the community center contract is executed, noncongregate units will be established concurrently, and the selected operations partner (DePaul USA) initially estimated annual operations near $900,000 and later revised that estimate to approximately $700,000. Director Howard said the city plans to work with DePaul USA on daily operations and that a state ESG grant and other federal funding sources are being pursued to support operations and street outreach.

Director Howard discussed a receivership program intended to address long‑standing unsafe and vacant properties, saying the city would need enabling state legislation to allow courts to appoint receivers to rehabilitate and then sell such properties. He also described ongoing attempts to acquire state‑auctioned parcels for the land bank so the city can rehabilitate blighted parcels without being outbid by private purchasers.

Board members asked about ordinance outreach, operational costs for the microhome village and weekend enforcement for code violations. Assistant Director Celicia Nichols said the department is arranging resident academies and outreach to neighborhood associations and that an earlier request from the board to add rental‑supervisor capacity was filled. Director Howard said operational risks and public‑safety concerns inform any decision to expand weekend enforcement and that changes to municipal code would be required to limit permitted weekend activities in some circumstances.

No formal vote was taken at the presentation; board members signaled support for several requests and asked for additional budget details and clarifying documents before formal action.