TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Jarad Hildenbrand, City Manager
1. SUBJECT
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Mills Act Program Review – Request for Additional Time and Temporary Deferral of Adopted Fee Increase (Continued from September 22, 2026)
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2. SUMMARY
On September 22, 2026, the City Council considered proposed Mills Act Program Guidelines intended to improve program administration, establish clearer application and evaluation criteria, strengthen monitoring and compliance, and better align program workload with available resources.
Following the City Council's discussion, additional staff review, and stakeholder outreach, staff has concluded that the issues affecting the Mills Act Program are broader than can reasonably be addressed through limited revisions to the proposed guidelines.
The City currently administers approximately 414 active Mills Act contracts. The program has grown significantly over time while dedicated historic preservation staffing, administrative systems, and resources have not kept pace.
Staff recognizes that the Mills Act Program has already been paused and that requesting approximately six additional months is significant. The City should be further along in its administration of the program, its understanding of the existing contract portfolio, and its ability to answer many of the questions now before the City Council. Staff accepts responsibility for correcting those deficiencies.
The additional time will be used to conduct a contract-by-contract review of all existing agreements, establish an accurate program baseline, reconcile incomplete records, evaluate the status of required inspections, review fiscal and fee impacts, evaluate the appropriate size and structure of the program, address property transfers and nonrenewal, compare programs used by other jurisdictions, evaluate staffing and technology, and develop a transition plan for existing contracts.
The objective is not simply to revise the current guidelines. ...
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