Indio scales back state climate grant bid to $5 million development request

Indio has changed its Transformative Climate Communities application from a $27.5 million implementation grant to a $5 million development grant, city staff told the Sustainability Commission on Monday.

The two-year grant will not finance heavy construction. Instead, the $5 million must be split across several smaller initiatives, with pilot projects serving as the only on-the-ground work, staff said.

The project area covers two neighborhoods: the Jewel and Sun Gold communities, which the city’s vision statement describes as “healthy, climate-ready communities where residents shape their own future.”

Under the proposal, the city would fund energy and efficiency evaluations for up to 30 residences, creating individualized plans that a future implementation grant could fund. Staff noted the target neighborhoods feature mostly older homes with ductless rooftop HVAC units

“We’re just not even sure really how to upgrade those,” Sara Toyoda, the city’s environmental programs coordinator, said. “If we have to remove it, that takes a crane, and then there’s a lot of questions about insulation.”

The grant would also fund a pilot program hiring a contractor to install backyard food gardens and irrigation, guiding residents through a growing season. While residents had requested a community garden, Toyoda said the backyard model, if successful, could have “much broader reach”.

Beyond the two pilots, the funds would pay to design community sidewalks and an everyday park engineered to double as an emergency resilience hub offering water, Wi-Fi and shade. A consultant would also model broader cooling strategies for both neighborhoods that go beyond tree planting.

Toyoda said this pivot to smaller-scale work will “allow us to better prepare between our planning grant and an implementation grant in the future”. The Round 6 application was due Wednesday for what staff termed “the same overall needs,” with an award decision expected in late spring or early summer 2027.

The decision marks a shift from June, when the commission recommended applying for the full $27.5 million implementation grant—one of three statewide awards available in Round 6.

Indio previously applied for a Round 4 implementation grant but was passed over. State feedback on that failed bid cited an overly narrow workforce component focused only on solar installations, limited partnerships with local community organizations and concerns over the application’s level of detail.

Between that June recommendation and Monday’s meeting, city staff met with residents in the Jewel neighborhood in August, “A lot of people that we talked to during the community meeting had concerns about going all electric because of the costs,” Toyoda said. The new smaller grant would allow for more personalized solutions.

Staff said outreach, including a focus on health equity, will shape the designs from the start, and the city will seek volunteers for the home and backyard projects. A decision on the grant is likely in late spring or early summer 2027, staff said.

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