Lincoln City Of

Lincoln City of Public Works & Utilities Division, a U.S. local government entity headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, acts as the prime recipient for federal grants and contracts in public transportation, emergency response, housing, environmental management, and public health, with 68% of recent awards as prime recipient and 32% as sub-recipient through pass-through arrangements with state agencies. The division does not hold SBA designations; it competes in full-and-open federal grant and contract opportunities as a municipal entity.

The division's concrete capability footprint centers on public transit operations and capital improvements through StarTran, emergency management and fire suppression, and public health administration. Recent prime work includes a $3.89 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant (CFDA 97.083) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded in March 2026 to hire firefighters and enhance department staffing; a $2.64 million Federal Transit Formula Grant (CFDA 20.507) from the Federal Transit Administration in February 2026 for the Lincoln Multimodal Transportation Center design and construction; an $8.96 million Federal Transit Formula Grant in April 2025 to purchase 16 replacement buses; a $1.40 million National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System grant (CFDA 97.025) from FEMA in September 2025 to maintain the city's Urban Search and Rescue task force; and a $4.4 million Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant (CFDA 14.905) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January 2025 to identify and control lead-based paint hazards in low-income housing.

Customer concentration is broad across 54 distinct federal agencies. The Federal Transit Administration dominates by award count with 76 awards (primarily StarTran bus system operations and capital improvements under FTA's Section 5307 and Section 5339 formula grant programs), followed by the Department of Justice U.S. Marshals Service Nebraska with 38 awards ($35 thousand combined potential value), the Department of Veterans Affairs with 32 awards, the Federal Emergency Management Agency with 32 awards, and the Administration for Community Living with 20 awards. Potential value concentration is modest; the Veterans Health Administration Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 anchors about $690 thousand in combined potential value across five awards. The award portfolio reflects a municipal grant-recipient footprint rather than a commercial contractor posture—the vast majority of value is obligated (338.9 million dollars obligated against 3.1 million in combined potential value ceiling, indicating mature, fully funded awards rather than open contracts with ceiling authority).

The division operates under federal Blanket Purchase Agreements issued to the Department of Justice U.S. Marshals Service (DJM15D47S0010 with 20 task orders and $6 thousand combined potential value; DJM14D47C0012 with 8 task orders and $8 thousand combined potential value; DJM16D47S0018 with 4 task orders). These are pass-through vehicles for coordination with federal law enforcement; the city's primary transactional vehicles are direct federal grant awards from the Federal Transit Administration, FEMA, HUD, and the Department of Justice.

Recent activity has grown from 12 awards in 2022 to a peak of 66 in 2024, with 55 awards in 2025 and 17 recorded through mid-2026. Sixteen awards are scheduled for ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, carrying combined potential value of $11 thousand and representing recompete exposure limited to renewal of formula grants and annual operating assistance agreements with FTA and other federal agencies.

The division acts as sub-recipient on 126 awards, primarily through pass-through funding from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Nebraska Department of Labor, Nebraska Department of Water Energy and Environment, and Nebraska Department of Transportation. Sub-award activities include public health capacity building (vaccination programs, lead hazard control, STI prevention), workforce development (WIOA Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker programs), elder services under the Older Americans Act, emergency management support, and transportation infrastructure. Named sub-recipient work includes health department capacity-building subawards related to public health preparedness and emergency response (CFDA 93.074, 93.758), WIC nutrition services and breastfeeding support (CFDA 10.557), WIOA workforce development (CFDA 17.258, 17.259, 17.260), Section 105 air quality administration, and drinking water and wastewater system improvements.

Corporate structure includes the City of Lincoln as parent entity with subordinate divisions including the Urban Development Department and the Housing Authority of the City of Lincoln. The Public Works & Utilities Division administers transportation, emergency services, water and utilities, and public health functions across the city's operations.

Lincoln City awards are concentrated in general automotive repair and maintenance (38 awards, primarily vehicle fleet management for StarTran), water supply and irrigation systems (11 awards), and electric power distribution (5 awards), with secondary concentration in public safety and emergency response. The category distribution reflects municipal infrastructure operations rather than commercial service delivery—the division's federal engagement is oriented to capital grants, formula-based operating assistance, and public health sub-recipient administration rather than competitive procurement of services.