The North Little Rock City Council voted to adopt the city’s FY2025 annual action plan, the city’s application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships funding, after a public hearing and staff presentation.

Why it matters: the plan governs how federal CDBG and HOME funds would be spent locally for housing and community development projects; federal appropriations remained in flux at the time of the hearing.

Bailey Noland, the city’s director of community development, told the council the plan had completed the 30-day public-comment period and was available for public review. Noland said the plan is the city’s annual HUD application and, if approved by council, will be submitted to HUD for federal review.

Noland also briefed the council on federal budget developments: she said the president’s budget and an initial HUD submission had proposed eliminating both CDBG and HOME, but a subsequent House subcommittee markup restored CDBG funding while HOME remained excluded. "At this point, home has not yet been added back, but there's quite a bit of advocacy happening at the federal level," Noland said. She said the city would monitor House and Senate actions and reach out to representatives as needed.

A brief public exchange clarified that resident advisory structures such as resident advisory boards for public housing are administered by the housing authority and are separate from the city’s CDBG/HOME application. Noland said those are managed by the housing authority.

Council members moved to adopt the resolution approving the FY2025 annual action plan (R25109). The motion passed on a recorded voice vote with council members voting in favor.

What remains open: HUD’s final funding and any adjustments required are contingent on federal appropriations and HUD review; the transcript records staff’s monitoring but no final federal decision.