Yakima County opens public comment on 2025 consolidated housing plan; seeks input on rehab, down-payment and developer subsidies

Yakima County commissioners held a public hearing on June 10 to receive public comment on the Yakima County Home Consortium 2025 consolidated plan. Brian, Yakima County Home Program Manager, presented housing needs projections, proposed uses of the county's HUD allocation and a timetable for public input.

The plan covers 2025 through 2029 and, according to Brian, “Our 2025 allocation is about $410,000,” with roughly $4,000,000 expected to be available over the next five years after combining current-year allocations with unspent prior-year funds and planned local contributions. The plan identifies a projected need of about 10,000 housing units from 2020 through 2029 and reported that approximately 4,000 units were added in Yakima County between 2020 and 2024.

Why it matters: the consolidated plan sets priorities for how Yakima County will use federal HUD funds for the next five years and outlines targeted help for very low- and low-income residents. The presentation emphasized affordability gaps: Brian said many rental units for households at 0–30% and 30–50% of area median income will require subsidy, and that the county is falling short on affordable production.

Key elements presented

- Funding: Brian said the county expects around $410,000 in HUD formula funds for 2025 and plans to reallocate some unspent prior-year multifamily funds plus local funds to reach roughly $4,000,000 over five years. He said the county is “noticing a trend downward on our funding.”

- Home rehabilitation: the plan proposes grants or loans of up to $70,000 per very-low-income homeowner (50% of area median income or lower) with a goal of assisting about 40 households to make homes safe and stable. Brian said many potential beneficiaries are elderly homeowners on fixed incomes.

- Homebuyer assistance: the plan proposes down-payment assistance of about $40,000 per household with a target of helping 24 households. The program also includes a developer subsidy line to be used as needed to make for-sale housing affordable.

- Developer subsidy example and repayment mechanics: Brian used an example in which a house that costs $350,000 could be made affordable at a $300,000 sale price by providing roughly $50,000 in subsidy to cover the gap. Commissioners and staff discussed ways to ensure the subsidy reduces the buyer's principal at closing and how to document that on settlement paperwork. Commissioner Curtis said, “It's not actually a subsidy received by the developer. It's actually a principal reduction that benefits the buyer specifically because it's you're saying that it's going to be showing on the HUD settlement statement.” Brian said the county could reflect subsidy sources at closing and could structure the county contribution as a recoverable silent second to enable recapture in some cases; he acknowledged some earlier wording in his explanation was imprecise.

Follow-up and next steps

- Public comment: Brian said the plan is available online and the county is accepting written comments through June 30 at 4 p.m. Comments may be emailed or mailed and will be forwarded to the Yakima County Board of Commissioners.

- Additional work: commissioners asked staff to refine program details. Commissioner Curtis said he would work with Brian offline on lending and underwriting implications of different subsidy types. A commissioner suggested bringing the fully fleshed-out down-payment/subsidy proposal to a future work session before formal adoption.

No formal action on the consolidated plan was taken at the June 10 meeting; the hearing was to accept public comment and gather feedback prior to any decision.

The consolidated plan document and submission instructions are available on the Yakima County website; comments are due by June 30 at 4 p.m.