Metropolitan Council staff told members the region’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and Community Development (CD) budgets include a new state rent-assistance program called Bring It Home, with vouchers expected to be available in 2026, and warned that federal budget uncertainty could create a projected shortfall.

The warning mattered because the HRA and CD account for a large share of the council’s housing work and include federal grants and staff funded on time-limited awards. Council staff said they will return later in the year to present numbers and seek Council direction on options to address any shortfall.

Staff said the HRA and CD operational split is roughly 60/40, with a material transfer of $1,800,000 to LHIA indicated in the operations slides. Revenue sources spelled out in the presentation included HUD administrative fees ($9,300,000), a $3,000,000 HUD Pro Housing grant, and rental income from the Family Affordable Housing program of about $3,150,000. Property tax for CD and HRA was listed at $19,800,000 (this figure does not include parks or LCA pass-through amounts). Other cited sources were reserves in the HRA account, admin fees from HRA portability, some interest earnings, and transfers from the general fund.

Staff also said the department is readying to implement HUD-directed building inspection regulations (referred to in the presentation as "Inspire" inspections) that have been delayed by HUD in prior years but are expected to move forward. Staff described implementation of those inspection requirements as a “big undertaking” that the team has been preparing for.

Council members pressed staff on staffing and levy limits. One council member queried why the development budget exceeds the general fund levy cap; staff replied that several full-time equivalents (FTEs) are funded by time-limited federal and EPA grants (staff identified five positions supported by those grants) and that the EPA grant’s performance period will continue for about two more years while the HUD Pro Housing grant covers a longer, five-year performance period. Staff said planning must consider whether to retain those positions beyond grant periods and, if so, how to fund them.

Staff emphasized that the interaction between the new state program and federal budget changes determines the net effect for households and that concrete impacts will be clearer only when actual federal numbers are available. They said they will continue monitoring federal budget developments and will return with proposals and requests for Council direction as needed.

Less central details included early-stage planning assistance grant funding (a small fund-building wedge with another round of support anticipated in 2026), pass-through revenues for livable communities and parks, and RA allocations for finance, information services and general counsel support.

Council members did not take formal action on these program details during the presentation. Staff said some actions would be brought to the Council later in the year, and flagged that staff will return with options to address projected shortfalls once more concrete federal numbers are known.