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Community development and CRA present FY26 requests; CRA maintains levy ask at prior level
Summary
City staff presented the Community Development Department and Community Redevelopment Authority budgets for FY26, including TIF obligations, facade and life-safety grants and a request to keep CRA levy revenue consistent with the prior year.
Chad Navety, director of community development, reviewed the department’s FY26 budget proposal on July 29, covering planning, building services, CDBG administration and Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) programs.
Navety told council the CRA is not requesting an increase over last year’s levy-dollar revenue request and expects assessed-value growth to lower the CRA levy rate. The CRA budget shows nearly $11,000,000 in total revenue, of which roughly $8.8 million is scheduled for TIF bond payments and obligations.
Key CRA programs and allocations
Navety highlighted CRA contributions budgeted or planned for FY26, including:
- $500,000 budgeted for facade-improvement grants (carryover from prior year and new allocation), - $200,000 planned payment to Conestoga Marketplace and $200,000 to the Husker Harvest Days agreement (each drawn from food-and-beverage tax funds and scheduled as multi-year payments), - a $200,000 “other projects” line for community initiatives (e.g., prior downtown decorations and similar projects), and - a continued fire-and-life-safety small grant program (allocated at $200,000 over two sources in past years; Navety proposed a reduced immediate carryforward for planning purposes and indicated $17,500 from CRA and $17,500 from the city would be included in next year’s operating mix to maintain program activity).
Navety also described several property actions and expected TIF final payments across multiple projects (Mainstay Suites nearing final payment, several other projects scheduled for payouts in 2026) and noted the CRA’s authority to make grant and land-purchase decisions in blighted or redevelopment areas.
Why it matters: the CRA budget covers tax-increment financing obligations and programs aimed at downtown redevelopment, building safety and public improvements. Navety said the CRA’s program dollars are often matched to private investment or used to unlock redevelopment activity.
Council discussion and oversight
Council members asked questions about levy impacts, the CRA’s discretion to allocate “other projects” funds, and the process by which CRA decisions are made. Navety clarified the CRA must operate within statutory authority (projects must be located in designated areas) and that the CRA board has authority to approve program spending; council members noted the council receives CRA budgets and may monitor fund use via the public meeting process.
Ending
Navety’s presentation provided council with a multi-part budget overview of planning, building services, CDBG and CRA operations; council will consider CRA and department budgets as part of FY26 deliberations.
