North Las Vegas leaders tell legislature city growth funds jobs, parks, housing and services

Mayor Pamela Goins Brown and City Manager Micaela Moore told the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs on Feb. 11 that North Las Vegas is channeling federal and local investments into affordable housing, parks, workforce development and infrastructure tied to the Apex industrial park.

The presentation framed those investments as efforts to convert recent economic growth into “quality of life” gains for residents and to expand local job opportunities and services close to where people live.

City officials said the city used American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and other federal grants for targeted programs. “The Dolores Huerta Resource Center scheduled to open soon is a community hub where residents can access workforce training, legal workshops, health services, and technology training,” Mayor Pamela Goins Brown said. She also highlighted the city’s Urban Center for Advanced Agriculture Technologies (UCAT), which she said received a $1,500,000 ARPA investment as the state’s first approved urban agriculture zone.

Micaela Moore, North Las Vegas city manager, summarized the city’s budget priorities and major capital programs and flagged a recent drop in consolidated tax (C tax) allocations. “The C tax budget is estimated at $90,800,000,” Moore said. She told legislators that C tax still supplies about one-third of General Fund revenues but that the city’s latest monthly allocation was down sharply year-over-year because of state accounting issues. Moore said the decrease has made revenue planning more difficult.

Why it matters: North Las Vegas leaders presented a portfolio of projects that city officials said will expand neighborhoods’ services and create jobs, but several programs rely on volatile state-collected C tax revenue or on continued intergovernmental funding.

Key investments and programs reported

- Housing and homelessness: The city described partnerships with private developers and nonprofit service providers to expand affordable housing and homebuyer assistance. Officials said they have invested ARPA and other funds in housing projects and programs targeted to seniors and low-income residents. Moore and the mayor described a Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement (HOME) team that the city said had a reported 88% success rate for individuals and a 93% success rate for families toward housing stability.

- Parks and recreation: City leaders said Craig Ranch Regional Park is receiving $23,000,000 in capital improvements, including six multiuse fields, LED lighting ($1,700,000), an expanded amp and a 42-by-20 mobile stage and screen. The city said it has secured about $58,000,000 in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grants to fund multiple projects, including a 20-acre park expansion and a pickleball complex.

- Apex industrial campus and infrastructure: The presentation described Apex Industrial Park as a long-term economic engine with more than 7,000 acres and roughly 25,000,000 square feet of building space under development. City officials cited the Kroger distribution center (about 885,000 square feet) and outlined a $900,000,000 water and wastewater investment with private partners and the city. Moore said a new 1,250,000-gallon Apex elevated water tank was to be raised the following week and expected to be operational by June 2025; the water system buildout was scheduled to continue through 2028.

- Libraries, workforce and education: Officials described new library-based workforce hubs (Employ Nevada Business Hub at Aliante and an Employ NV Youth Hub at Alexander Library) and said the city awarded microgrants to local educators (city figures cited using ARPA funds). The mayor highlighted the “homegrown teacher” program at Canyon Springs High School, which the city said had 50 enrolled students and had received a $258,000 grant via the Silver State Education Foundation.

- Business licensing and entrepreneurship: Moore said the Business License Division issued 1,219 business licenses in 2024 and reported that 946 (about 78%) were registered as women-, minority- or veteran-owned businesses. She told the committee the city’s licensing turnaround can be as fast as 24 hours and that the city has introduced an online self-certification for contractors.

Questions and follow-up requests

Committee members asked about the Hilo (High Oak/High Low) Park development, how new housing would connect to adjacent neighborhoods, how the city addresses urban heat and heat-event services, and whether new industrial jobs at Apex would be reachable by transit. Moore and the mayor said the city is coordinating with RTC and partner agencies on transit access, tree-planting grants and shade shelters, and that the city will provide more data at the committee’s request. Assemblymember Winn asked for breakdowns by veteran- and women-owned businesses; Moore provided the 1,219 and 946 figures during the hearing and offered to submit supporting detail to the committee.

No formal committee action was taken on the presentation. The city’s materials and responses will be part of the record for lawmakers who are considering statewide funding and development policies.