The Las Cruces City Council will meet at 1 p.m. Monday, June 6, 2022 in Council Chambers at City Hall, 700 N. Main St., for a regularly scheduled meeting.
City Council will consider a Resolution that could adopt land use assumptions for proposed updates to the City’s Public Safety Impact Fee (PSIF). The proposed Land Use Assumptions use Elevate Las Cruces Comprehensive plan growth and land use assumptions. The assumptions will be used to determine the current level of public safety service provided and recommendations on changes to the impact fee schedule, if warranted.
Public Safety Impact Fees are paid by all new residential and commercial construction. The one-time fee is used to pay for additional public safety amenities and equipment that would be needed by new development.
In August 2006, the City awarded a contract to Duncan Associates to review Las Cruces Municipal Code Chapter 33, Development Impact fee, and to conduct a fee study for the proposal and implementation of impact fees for public safety. In 2011, following completion of the study City Council adopted a PSIF.
In accordance with Chapter 33, the PSIF must be reviewed every five years. The assessment requires City Council to review Land Use Assumptions, capital improvement plan, and fee schedule. In 2021, Council determined an update was not needed, through Resolution 21-157, and the PSIF was extended to June 30, 2022.
That allowed time for City Council to review the PSIF following the COVID-19 pandemic. Willdan Financial was contracted by the City as the consultant and has prepared Land Use Assumptions for the PSIF.
Updates to the Land Use Assumptions were presented to the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) in February and March 2022. During the March CIAC meeting, the Land Use Assumptions were recommended by the committee for use in the PSIF.
City staff and Willdan Financial representatives presented a progress update of the PSIF to City Council on April 25, 2022. Public input meetings were conducted for the PSIF update including a public hearing on May 21, 2022, as required by the City’s Municipal Code.
Additionally, City Council will consider adoption of a Resolution approving a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) agreement between the City and Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity for the acquisition of vacant land that would be used to develop affordable housing.
The City has received funds from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) through Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, which is known as the CDBG program. The CDBG program provides the City the opportunity to administer a federally funded program in accordance with the goals of the City's Consolidated Plan, a comprehensive planning document that outlines affordable housing and community development needs.
Habitat is proposing to use as much as $82,500 in CDBG funding for the acquisition of three parcels for the development of owner-occupied affordable housing. The homes to be constructed will be sold to qualified low-income households utilizing Habitat's homeownership program. The CDBG funds will provide for a direct reduction in the sales price of the housing units, offering a more affordable mortgage to the individual households.
The City will file a Land Use Restriction Agreement against each property to maintain the property's affordability and use as residential owner-occupied housing.
The agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting is available online at https://lascruces.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=363.
Monday’s meeting will be televised live at 1 p.m. Monday on CLCTV, Comcast Cable channel 20, and in high definition on Comcast Cable channel 928. The meeting also will be available online at clctv.com and at YouTube.com/clctv20.