Council set for readings on rental housing changes and clarifying authority for commercial rehab tax credits

City staff presented two ordinances for the councilʼs consideration at the reading: an amendment to Section 7-4f of the city code to clarify final authority over commercial property rehabilitation tax credits, and a revised rental housing ordinance that brings the rental inspector position in-house and modernizes the rental registration process.

City staff said the commercial property rehabilitation tax-credit ordinance (Ordinance 2025-04) “makes it crystal clear that final authority in granting these tax credits falls with the mayor and city council,” rather than implying decision authority rested with department directors.

On rental housing (Ordinance 2025-05), staff described the primary change as moving the rental inspector role into the city organization, providing mayor-and-council flexibility to return to a party system if desired, clarifying definitions and timelines, and allowing digital submissions through the existing iWORK portal. Staff said formatting issues flagged in the prior month have been corrected.

Separately, staff presented a request to grant a temporary repeal of the open-container ban for an upcoming festival (referred to in the meeting as the “Lebanese” event). The police department reported no concerns; staff recommended approval and said they had no objections to a temporary exemption for the event.

Staff noted these are readings and that final action would follow the standard ordinance adoption process; no final votes were recorded during the work session.