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Pierce County authorizes reallocation of up to $900,000 in Homeless Housing Program funds
Summary
The council adopted Resolution R2025-149 to allow Human Services to reallocate up to $900,000 of underspent Homeless Housing Program (HHP) funds among previously awarded contractors to avoid returning state funds and to support providers who used funds for winter inclement-weather services.
The Pierce County Council unanimously adopted Resolution R2025-149 on Tuesday, authorizing the Human Services Department to reallocate up to $900,000 in Homeless Housing Program (HHP) funds among contracted providers for the 2024–2025 biennium.
County staff said the reallocation is intended to prevent state funds from returning to the Washington State Department of Commerce due to underspending and to direct money to programs that can use it by the June 30 contract expiration date.
Mary Connolly, council staff, summarized the context: the HHP mixes local, state and federal funding and the current biennium includes "nearly $15,400,000 in funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce." She added that the council had previously approved about $17,600,000 in HHP awards under Resolution R2024-172S.
Human Services staff told the council they identified at least eight contracted projects among the 47 awarded that were expected to underspend a combined total of about $900,000 by June 30, 2025. The reallocation method in the resolution directs funds from lower-spending projects to higher-spending projects and allows limited increases to projects that expended specified thresholds of their contracts.
Devon Isaacson, social services supervisor with Pierce County Human Services, described the engagement with providers: "We did give all of the providers the opportunity to tell us whether they could give funds back. We were met with a lot of participation and, folks were in agreement. They don't wanna see the funds go unused, of course, because this is for homeless services in our community." Isaacson said staff worked with each contractor to identify which line items would be reduced so the provider could continue operations through the fiscal year.
The resolution sets allocation rules: projects that have expended at least 70% of their contract may receive increases up to 30% of their contract amount not to exceed $125,000. Providers that used HHP funds for inclement-weather services during this winter may be increased by the amount they spent on those services. If funds remain, projects that have expended at least 60% may receive increases up to 20% not to exceed $20,000. Additional funds are prioritized to higher-spending contracts first.
Council members asked about voluntary participation, finance coordination and contract amendments. Staff said the reallocation requires contractor agreement to reduce contract amounts in writing and that increases will be implemented as contract amendments; the county's fiscal team has been involved in planning the reallocations.
The council voted after a public hearing with no speakers. The clerk recorded seven ayes and zero nays, adopting the reallocation authority for Human Services.
