Interim Director Tammy Harvey Bethea (Economic & Community Development) told the committee the 2026 Annual Action Plan for CDBG and HOME funding is in a preliminary stage and must be submitted to HUD as a requirement to begin the process. Staff are using 2025 allocation totals as a placeholder while awaiting confirmation of federal apportionments and will return to council with detailed recommendations after HUD review.

Bethea said the draft plan carried a 15% allocation for public services as a placeholder; staff did not list specific subrecipients at this stage because of uncertainty about final funding levels. She also noted that the plan must include historic-preservation language as part of regulatory compliance and explained the status of outstanding Section 108 loan repayments that previously financed street and lighting work on Queen Street: the city took a $4,000,000 Section 108 loan and, according to Bethea, there are five payments remaining.

Councilmembers asked how staff derived funding figures and whether the Section 108 loan was paid off; Bethea explained the practice of using the current year's total as the placeholder and summarized prior Section 108 borrowing and project work tied to Queen Street improvements. The committee voted to place the 2026 Annual Action Plan resolution on the Nov. 5 legislative agenda.

Next steps: administration will submit the plan to HUD for review and return to council with a detailed allocation of subrecipients and specific program awards once the city's HUD apportionment is confirmed.