Grace Orr, a consultant with Civitas, presented an overview of the City of Flagstaff’s proposed 2026–2030 consolidated plan for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to the Flagstaff City Housing Commission and requested commissioner feedback on priorities and target areas.

Orr told the commission that CDBG is a federal HUD grant “created to primarily support low income residents in the city,” and outlined six broad categories of eligible activity: public improvements (sidewalks, water/sewer), public facilities (parks, shelters), housing rehabilitation, rental rehabilitation, economic development, acquisition and public services. She noted that HUD caps public services at 15% of the annual grant and that the city may use up to 20% of the award for administration.

The consultant said the city’s 2025 entitlement was about $656,000 and that program income — repayments or proceeds that return to the program — added roughly $100,000 this year. After typical administration set-asides, the working program amount was described as roughly $525,000. Orr also cautioned that HUD allocations are tied to the federal budget; grantees typically receive an allocation notice up to 60 days after HUD publishes awards, which has delayed recent plan submissions. She said the con plan team will include contingency language so the draft budget can be adjusted if the final HUD award is higher or lower.

Commissioners questioned data and targeting. Commissioner Tyler Denham asked whether rising median income reflected newcomers with higher incomes or other trends; Orr said the reported median income is nominal (not adjusted for inflation) and suggested staff could dig deeper into the dataset. Commissioner Davonna McLaughlin asked whether CDBG can fund new construction; Orr clarified that general new construction is not allowed, but a certified community-based housing organization (CHDO or similar nonprofit) can, in some cases, undertake new construction under specific CDBG program rules.

The presentation described the overall con plan process: a five-year strategic plan informed by a needs assessment and housing market analysis, followed by annual action plans tying each year’s activities to the five-year priorities. Orr said the draft needs assessment and market analysis should be available to staff within about one week and that the consultants will hold focus groups and public meetings next week, including a public meeting at Market of Dreams (Wednesday, Oct. 29, 4–6 p.m.) and two stakeholder focus groups (housing/homelessness and public services/economic development).

Orr asked commissioners to consider how the city should prioritize among eligible activities — affordable housing, economic development, supportive services, public facilities and home repair — and to weigh whether targeted neighborhood investments or citywide approaches would better serve low- and moderate-income households. Staff said past target neighborhoods in the consolidated plan included Sunnyside, Southside, La Plaza Vieja and Brandon Holmes; commissioners discussed whether to continue using targeted areas or broaden citywide eligibility for flexibility.

Next steps: the consultants will finalize the needs assessment/market analysis, collect public and stakeholder input through meetings and surveys, publish the consolidated plan for a HUD-required 30-day public comment period once drafted, and return a final plan to city council for approval and submission to HUD. Staff and Orr said they will proceed on the current schedule while building contingency language to accommodate late federal allocations.