North Las Vegas advisory panel approves CDBG funding recommendations after debate over small reallocations

The North Las Vegas Citizens Advisory Committee voted on Feb. 4, 2025, to accept the committee’s recommended Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding levels for fiscal year 2025–26, approving the amounts shown in column H of the committee spreadsheet by voice vote.

The recommendation follows several hours of deliberation and presentations, including two bus tours of applicant facilities. Committee members debated whether to shift small amounts among applicants to fully fund some smaller programs while partially reducing others. Member May moved to accept the recommendation amounts in column H; Member Alpert seconded the motion, which passed on a voice vote.

Why it matters: CDBG dollars fund local nonprofits that provide food, youth services, mentoring and other public services for North Las Vegas residents. Small reallocations among awardees affect which programs receive full funding and which are reduced this grant cycle.

Committee members highlighted several specific adjustments made during the meeting. Members agreed to take $3,200 from Communities and Schools of Nevada and add it to Iron Sharpens Iron to fully fund the latter, which committee members described as a shoestring program that could use the full request. A separate adjustment moved $3,000 from Lighthouse Charities to Baby’s Bounty, raising Baby’s Bounty’s recommended share from 49% to about 54% of its request.

Members repeatedly referenced the bus tours as a reason for preserving funding for organizations whose in-person operations impressed them. "I was really impressed actually with every one of them also," Member Alpert said, referencing the site visits. Multiple members said the tours changed how they scored some applicants compared with their initial application reviews.

Members also discussed eligibility limits for certain uses of grant funds. Member May asked whether CDBG could pay for State of the City tickets; staff responded that such purchases are not eligible under CDBG because they do not meet a national objective. "State of the City tickets is not covered by Community Development Block Grant funding. It covers no national objective," a staff member said.

Several members urged the city to consider larger matching contributions in future years so the committee's recommendations would carry more weight. Member Alpert urged the city to seek creative ways to add municipal dollars to the pool, saying, in part, that city budgets include many large line items and that matching funds could expand the committee's impact.

The committee’s approval of column H concludes the panel’s funding recommendations; staff will forward the recommendations to the City Council for consideration.

Votes at a glance: The motion to "accept the recommended amounts in column H" was moved by Member May and seconded by Member Alpert; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.

The committee also completed a separate, shorter vote to approve recommended Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) allocations (see related article).