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Los Ranchos adopts LITA plan with January application cycle, residency bonus and PPA clawback language
Summary
Trustees unanimously adopted a Local Economic Development (LITA) plan that sets a January application cycle, excludes home‑based occupations, creates a five‑member review committee and adds a 10‑point local‑residency bonus; staff said project participation agreements will contain clawback provisions.
On its third hearing, the Village of Los Ranchos Board of Trustees adopted the Local Economic Development Act (LITA) plan on July 21 after staff summarized changes made in response to prior feedback.
Planning staff presented six principal revisions: home‑based occupations are not eligible for LITA funding; funding categories were clarified; the village will run a January application cycle to align awards with the annual budget; the review committee will be five members (odd number); a 10‑point local‑residency bonus will be available when a majority owner lives in the village; and staff will provide annual reporting on metrics and awards.
Public comment and oversight: resident Vincent Sanchez urged stronger clawback language and recommended that unused funds be returned to a dedicated LITA pool and potentially pooled for future projects. Planning staff (Shanna) said clawback and repayment provisions are appropriate to include in each project participation agreement (PPA) because those documents are tailored to individual projects; the plan itself sets the high‑level framework.
Vote and procedure: Trustee [mover recorded] moved adoption, a second was recorded, and the trustees voted 4‑0 to adopt the plan. Trustees discussed microloan administration (village to act as fiscal agent) and conflict‑of‑interest safeguards for review committee members; staff agreed to include signed conflict disclosures in committee appointment procedures.
What’s next: staff will publish the application cycle timeline and begin committee appointment and project review in advance of the January application window.
