City adopts 2025–2030 Consolidated Plan and FY2025–26 HUD Annual Action Plan for $1.2M entitlement

City staff presented and the council adopted the City of Santa Clara’s 2025–2030 Consolidated Plan and the FY2025–26 Annual Action Plan, the documents that guide the city’s use of federal HUD entitlement funding for affordable housing, public services and capital improvements.

Housing and Community Services Manager Adam Marcus told the council the city receives approximately $1.2 million annually in HUD entitlement funding through CDBG and HOME and summarized the plan’s priority goals — affordable housing, homelessness response, public services, fair housing, and public facility improvements.

Why it matters: The plan sets the city’s funding priorities for federal dollars that must benefit lower‑income residents. The FY2025–26 allocations in the action plan include funding for public‑service providers, minor and major home‑repair programs, tenant‑based rental assistance options and other HUD‑eligible activities.

Key details

- Entitlement and uses: Staff noted $1.2 million in annual HUD entitlement funds; the action plan proposes allocations to public‑service agencies, nonprofit partners and capital projects including the city’s Neighborhood Conservation and Improvement Program (NCIP) and home‑repair loans and grants.

- NCIP: City staff explained NCIP’s two tracks — a minor‑repair grant (up to $25,000 per household) and a major‑repair loan program that averages about $100,000 per household; staff said the combined FY25 funding sources—current entitlement dollars plus program‑income repayments—total about $560,000 and would serve roughly six major‑repair projects based on present cost estimates.

- Administration and reporting: Council members asked about grant administration costs and the differing paperwork and audit requirements for HUD funding versus city general‑fund grants. Staff said the city is implementing an improved subrecipient reporting system to reduce administrative burden.

Public comment and council direction

Nonprofit representatives spoke in support of continued funding; staff said earlier outreach produced several written letters and five oral public‑service testimonies at the first hearing. Council members asked about program alternatives and whether small providers could be shifted between general‑fund and CDBG streams to reduce administration costs; staff said some allocations are constrained by federal rules or local fee structures and recommended city staff evaluate reallocation options outside the present annual decision.

The council voted to adopt the Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan at the May 13 hearing.