In This Issue:
- 2050 Regional Population Forecasts: Join Us for an Online Forum
- 2024 Metro Cities Policy Committees
- Community Development Committee Approves Round One LCA Grants
- Minnesota Housing 2026-2027 Qualified Action Plan Open for Public Comment
2050 Regional Population Forecasts: Join Us for an Online Forum
Metro Cities will host an online forum for city officials and staff on Thursday, June 13th from 2:30-4:00 pm on the draft 2050 regional population forecasts.
Metropolitan Council staff will present the methodology used to develop regional and local forecasts. Forecasts describe when and where employment, population, and household growth, are expected, and are determined by examining location characteristics, real estate dynamics, and activity and travel patterns within the region. The draft forecasts will be finalized by the Metropolitan Council in early 2025.
Please join us! The webinar will include presentations by Metropolitan Council staff, and time for Q/A. Please RSVP to Jennifer Dorn at [email protected]. A meeting link and information will be provided in advance of the meeting.
2024 Metro Cities Policy Committees
Metro Cities policy committee process will begin in July, and four committees will recommend the association’s legislative policies for 2025. Participation is open to member city elected officials and staff. Committee descriptions and dates are on the website. Please be sure to sign up for the committee(s) you wish to attend. We look forward to seeing you this summer!
Community Development Committee Approves Round One LCA Grants
On Monday, the Community Development Committee voted to approve the funding recommendations for the Round One Livable Communities Act (LCA) Pre-Development and Policy Development Grants.
LCA Pre-Development grants are intended for early-stage activities like design workshops, financial studies, project impact analyses, and community engagement. Seven LCA Pre-Development grants were awarded for the first round, totaling $1 million. City recipients of the funds are St. Paul, Brooklyn Center, Falcon Heights, and Minneapolis. You can view a presentation of the approved projects HERE.
LCA Policy Development grants are meant to support cities to create locally adopted, enforceable policies that have an impact on physical development city-wide or in a specific defined area. Three Policy Development applications were awarded, totaling $100,000 in grant funds. The city recipients for funding are Bloomington, Richfield, and Newport. Bloomington plans to use the funds to conduct a Housing Nexus Study to update their current housing ordinance. Richfield plans to use the funds to increase density to allow for more missing middle housing, to support creating more diversity in the housing stock of the city. Newport plans to update their development procedures and zoning ordinance for increased density, and to update design standards to better align with LEED standards. You can view a presentation with more information on the awarded communities HERE.
Please contact Ania McDonnell at [email protected] with any questions.
Minnesota Housing 2026-2027 Qualified Action Plan Open for Public Comment
The proposed 2026-2027 Qualified Action Plan (QAP) is now open for public comment until Wednesday, July 3rd. This is the first of two public comment periods for the QAP to provide feedback and comments to Minnesota Housing.
The QAP describes how housing tax credits are distributed to multifamily rental projects and combines state and federally legislated requirements as well as priorities from Minnesota Housing’s Strategic Plan. The QAP contains both the 2026-2027 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan, as well as the 2025-2026 Multifamily Consolidated Request for Proposals Funding Priorities.
You can find a link to the summary of the Proposed Qualified Allocation Plan HERE, and a link to the draft Qualified Allocation Plan HERE, and a link to the Self-Scoring Worksheet HERE.
You can submit comments by phone to Kelly Winter at 651-297-5142, and you can email written comments to [email protected] before the July 3rd deadline.
You can find all of this information, and more about upcoming virtual engagement sessions HERE under the 2026-2027 QAP Engagement tab.
Please contact Ania McDonnell at [email protected] with questions.