Island County closes out COVID-era homeowner and renter aid after assisting 108 households

Island County Human Services presented a closeout Wednesday of the county—s Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) program and the Board of Island County Commissioners approved the county—s past performance for the program.

Emily Wildman, Island County—s housing program manager, told the commission the county received federal CDBG-CV funding to help homeowners and renters who were financially impacted by COVID-19. Wildman said Island County received $607,579 from CDBG-CV 1 and CDBG-CV 2. Of that amount, she said $23,210 went to administrative costs and $584,369 went to direct subsistence payments used to pay mortgage, utility and rental arrears.

The program originally was contracted to the Opportunity Council from March 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023, which Wildman said served 50 households with mortgage and utility payments. When Opportunity Council chose not to continue, Island County Human Services took over the remaining funds and expanded assistance to cover rental arrears; Wildman said an additional 58 households were served, for a total of 108 households assisted from March 1, 2021, through the program closeout on Sept. 30, 2024.

Wildman described household eligibility: applicants had to be Island County residents, have been directly financially impacted by COVID-19, and have mortgage, utility or rental arrears; household income had to be at or below 80% of area median income (AMI). Wildman reported income tiers for households served: 54 households were at or below 30% AMI, 28 were between 31% and 50% AMI, and 26 were between 51% and 80% AMI. She also provided a racial/ethnic breakdown the county recorded: 74 white; 19 multiracial; 5 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; and 9 Black or African American.

Commissioners asked follow-up questions about housing stability. Wildman said she did not have a definitive count of how many assisted households remain housed but said most households who received mortgage assistance did not recontact the program with further problems, which she took as an indicator many stabilized. She also clarified benefit limits: assistance could cover up to six months or $10,000 per household, whichever came first; the program initially set a $5,000 cap before raising it for mortgage needs.

At the close of the public hearing, Commissioner Johnson moved to approve "Island County's past performance using $605,579 of Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds" and the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The figure in that motion ( $605,579) appeared in the hearing notice and the motion language; Wildman—s presentation used $607,579 as the total grant amount and described $23,210 in administrative costs and $584,369 in subsistence payments. The commission did not request additional accounting at the meeting.

The county recorded that all payments were made directly to mortgage companies, utility providers and landlords. Wildman said the county focused the CDBG-CV funds on homeowners because rental assistance programs were more numerous and the county had fewer homeowner-targeted resources early in the pandemic.

No members of the public offered comments during the public hearing.

Clarifying details: the Opportunity Council contract cited by Human Services ran March 1, 2021—to June 30, 2023; Island County managed program activity through Sept. 30, 2024, per Wildman—s presentation. Eligibility requirements, expenditure caps and the racial and income breakdowns above are from Wildman—s report to the commission.