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Redevelopment Commission keeps prior fiscal-year budget amid debate over line-item moves and CDBG limits
Summary
The commission voted to maintain its prior fiscal-year budget request after staff recommended moving several line items; members also discussed constraints and long-term strings tied to using CDBG funds and asked staff to finalize revised purchasing procedures.
The New Bern Redevelopment Commission voted on March 11 to maintain the commission’s prior fiscal-year budget request rather than adopt staff-proposed reallocation of several line items.
Staff reviewed the current budget and recommended moving funds among line items to reflect near-term needs: reduce "other professional services" from $26,000 to $15,000, zero the utilities line because there are no current properties requiring payment, keep food and provisions at $1,200 and supplies at $2,200, and reduce the land-and-structures allocation from $200,000 to $50,000. Staff said any larger changes could be accomplished later by budget amendment if the commission decided to reallocate funds after adopting a marketing or property strategy.
Commissioners debated whether to move funds now or retain the existing budget allocations so a future executive director could provide a detailed spending plan. Some members expressed concern about losing flexibility to spend from the fund without a board of aldermen budget adjustment; staff clarified that using funds in designated line items does not require monthly board-of-aldermen approval, but moving unallocated fund balance into new line items does require a budget-adjustment process.
Separately, members discussed the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Staff noted CDBG can be used for property acquisition and eligible redevelopment activities but often requires multi-step compliance, supplemental loan processes and long covenants (for example, the commission previously placed a 20-year lien on a property acquired with CDBG funds), which can complicate future sales.
After discussion a motion to retain the prior fiscal-year budget request for the upcoming year was made and passed by voice vote. Staff will continue preparing the revised purchaser-disclosure forms and a visual inventory of lots and will present proposals for line-item adjustments or advertising programs at future meetings as needed.
Next steps: staff to finalize proposed purchasing protocols and a visual inventory of buildable and non-buildable lots; the commission left open the ability to seek budget amendments later if a concrete marketing plan or executive-director recommendation requires reallocation.
