State OTDA details how New York funds permanent supportive housing as Tompkins lawmakers weigh local projects

On April 15 the Tompkins County Legislature heard a detailed briefing from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance on state funding streams and models for addressing homelessness with permanent and supportive housing.

State OTDA housing bureau officials Sarah Watson and Linda Kamoyne told legislators that New York’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) and the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESHI) are the principal state resources for creating and operating housing targeted to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Watson said HHAP provides competitive capital grants and loans to acquire, construct or rehab housing; she told the legislature that the HHAP appropriation has been $128,000,000 annually and that demand has recently outstripped supply.

The presentation outlined three broad responses to homelessness: emergency shelter (short-term placements often paid by counties), transitional housing (shorter-term stays up to 24 months, limited state capital funding), and permanent housing (affordable or supportive). Watson and Kamoyne emphasized that “permanent supportive housing” pairs long-term affordable units with on-site or coordinated case management and services and is a proven path to ending homelessness for many households.

Why it matters: Tompkins County currently places dozens of people in hotels and motels on any given night and the county is planning local shelter and navigation hub efforts. State funding decisions and timing will shape whether local developers and nonprofits can move quickly to build permanent options and secure operating subsidies required to keep units affordable and staffed.

Most notable program details described to the legislature - HHAP: competitive capital awards for acquisition, rehab, or new construction. Watson said the fund has been fully allocated earlier and that the program closed after the available funds were committed in recent cycles. - ESHI: described as the primary operational funding stream for supportive housing; the program currently provides roughly $25,000 per unit per year for rental subsidy, services, operating costs and staff. That rental subsidy component is intended to ensure tenants never pay more than 30% of income toward rent.

Speakers and examples cited - Watson and Kamoyne reviewed recent project examples around the state (hotel conversions, small scattered-site houses, and larger mixed tax-credit/HHAP projects). They highlighted projects where nonprofit partners paired HHAP capital with tax credit financing and ESHI operating subsidies to create mixed affordable/supportive developments. - County administration and legislators asked about local project pipelines and state-region caps on awards; state staff said some funding components are regionally allocated and HHAP has project caps (e.g., per-project cap), and they encouraged early applications and coordination with the local Continuum of Care and municipal partners.

Local context and next steps County Administrator Corso Comfy and several legislators referenced ongoing local efforts: the Sherry Street project, an RFP for a service provider for shelter-related services, and work with the city on a navigation hub tied to previously allocated capital dollars. State staff recommended communities engage the Continuum of Care, gather housing need studies, and pursue ESHI awards while simultaneously pursuing capital financing (tax credits, HHAP) because ESHI awards are commonly conditional on later capital funding.

Ending OTDA officials said they will continue to offer technical assistance and urged local nonprofits and municipalities to apply early for both operating and capital funding. County staff and several legislators said they expect follow-up conversations about specific Tompkins projects and possible use of adaptive reuse of vacant properties for housing.