North Las Vegas staff outline outreach and timing for HUD consolidated plan, urge patience on federal allocations

Mejji Tabar, a consultant who has worked with the city since February 2017, told the Citizens Advisory Committee on March 4 that the consolidated plan is a federal requirement for any city that receives HUD dollars and that it must be paired with an annual action plan. "If the feds wanna give you money, you have to show exactly what you're gonna do with it, then you implement, and then you report back on how you spend those dollars," Tabar said.

Tabar and city staff said the city is preparing a 2025–2029 consolidated plan and an associated one-year 2025 annual action plan. Staff said they plan to submit the action plan to HUD by the May 15 deadline that normally precedes the fiscal year by 45 days, but cautioned that submission and final allocations depend on Congress and the federal budget process. "We're working off of last year's numbers," Tabar said. "We don't actually have this year's city allocation. ... We won't know what's happening with the federal budget. I can guess probably up until last moment, which is March 15."

City staff described outreach used to inform priorities. Janie Christensen, a city staff member who led local engagement efforts, said city outreach included a QR-code survey distributed with paper water bills (English and Spanish versions), a National Black History Month business fair at Aliante Nature Discovery Park with a nine-item vision board exercise, and a session with the JAG group at Canyon Springs High School. Christensen said the business‑fair activity asked participants to place three stars on the items they prioritized. "The items straight up the middle seemed to be get the most stars," she said.

Staff gave preliminary summaries of that outreach. Christensen said the business‑fair participants prioritized homeless services, mental and behavioral health services, and education. Students at Canyon Springs ranked education, food access/food deserts and job creation among their top concerns; students described limited local grocery access and the need to travel across the I‑15 to reach a full supermarket. Christensen said the city has received roughly 200 additional survey responses in recent months on top of more than 1,200 responses received the prior year.

Officials also discussed programmatic constraints and options. Tabar reminded members that Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) public‑service dollars are typically capped at 15% of CDBG funds and described the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area (NRSA) as a mechanism the city has used to expand public‑service spending in a designated area beyond that cap. "The city intends to renew that NRSA for this next con plan so that we can think about additional public service activities beyond the 15% cap," Tabar said.

Committee members pressed staff for clarity about how the city will set priorities. Member Corey said the consolidated plan documents often list multiple priorities without showing what the city considers the top items. "If everything's tied for number 1, there is no high priority," Corey said. Staff responded that HUD's required consolidated plan and required submission format often list many items as "high" and that the city produces an executive summary to clarify priorities for the public; staff said the proposed plan will go out for a 30‑day public comment period, tentatively in early April, once the city posts dollar amounts (likely using the previous year as a placeholder until HUD finalizes allocations).

Staff urged committee members to help expand outreach and said the department welcomes CAC participation on related advisory groups and community events. Wilson Ramos, a city staff member, and Rick Damien, speaking for the record, thanked committee members for their input and encouraged them to share the survey and attend public‑comment opportunities when the proposed plan is released.

This item was discussion only; the committee combined agenda items 3 and 4 for the presentation and did not take formal action on the consolidated plan or annual action plan at the March 4 meeting.