Council approves consent package: $1.5M transfer, public‑safety grants and donation of ambulance to peer support network

The Reno City Council on Feb. 12 approved its consent agenda, including a one‑time transfer of $1,500,000 from special assessment district (SAD) surplus funds to the general fund, state and federal public‑safety grants, and the donation of a recently retired ambulance to the Nevada Peer Support Network.

Special assessment transfer: Matt Taylor, assistant finance director, told council the transfer represents accumulated excess payments from closed special assessment districts. Under Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS), the city may transfer amounts exceeding 10% of outstanding special assessments into the general fund after reconciliation. City manager Jackie Bryant said the transfer will be brought forward again as part of the FY26 budget process and is intended to offset a projected FY26 deficit; staff described the payment as a one‑time transaction and said about $300,000 will remain in the SAD fund for future shortages.

Public‑safety grants: The council accepted several grants: an interlocal award administered by Reno for regional policing‑related equipment that will be shared with Washoe County and Sparks; a state Department of Public Safety grant of about $44,000 for breaching equipment for the Reno Police Department; and a fuel‑mitigation grant for fire department work that will include dumpster distribution for private property fuels reduction. Police and fire staff described the interlocal grant process: Reno serves as the fiscal agent, applies for the funds and distributes reimbursements according to an agreed allocation.

Peer support ambulance and funding: The council approved donating a retired city ambulance to the Nevada Peer Support Network to be repurposed as an incident support unit for first responders. Division Chief Pete Bryant of Reno Fire said the department recently purchased a new ambulance and recommended gifting the surplus vehicle to support peer responders region‑wide; Charles (Charlie) Tavano of Nevada Peer Support Network said the vehicle will improve the network’s capacity to support firefighters and first responders at multi‑day incidents. The council also approved discretionary funding to the same nonprofit.

Why it matters: The SAD transfer is a one‑time budget tool council intends to use during the FY26 deficit remedy discussion. The grants were described as operational support for police and fire functions; the ambulance donation was framed as a regional public‑safety and peer‑support investment.

Votes at a glance: the items were approved on voice votes recorded on the consent agenda and during the related pulled‑item discussions.