Council accepts FY26 first-quarter performance report highlighting safety, housing and economic investments

City staff presented the FY26 first-quarter strategic performance update on Oct. 13 and the council voted to accept the report.

Chris Lowery and Andy Brayboy outlined five FY26 priorities — comprehensive community safety; economic growth; housing and revitalization; transportation and connectivity; and parks/youth engagement — and described Q1 outcomes and metrics. Staff reported $84,500 awarded to 20 neighborhood-led community safety microgrants, and said the Fayetteville Cares Day Resource Center recorded more than 3,100 visits in Q1 with 42 active partner organizations. Fire department 90th-percentile response time was reported as 6 minutes 54 seconds; police priority-1 call response averaged 531 seconds (about 8 minutes 51 seconds).

Staff also reported $2,140,000 invested through economic development grants and loans in Q1 and said the city allocated $450,000 to community housing development organizations to produce nine affordable single-family homes. The presentation included the Homebuyer Heroes program figures: 13 homebuyers received $320,000 in down-payment assistance during the quarter. City staff stated they had signed HUD grant funds for the upcoming year and had $765,000 remaining in Homebuyer Heroes program funds.

Council member Mario Benavente moved to accept the FY26 Q1 strategic performance report; Council member Davis seconded the motion and the council recorded the motion as carrying. Council members asked for clearer public access to data; staff pointed to the city scorecard and said the city will soon launch an OpenGov portal to show finances and project details.

Some presentation text on the number of affordable multifamily units was garbled in the transcript; staff materials will be posted on the city manager's website and the published PowerPoint and scorecard will provide the full numeric details.