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Spokane staff outline five-year interlocal agreement to coordinate regional homelessness response
Summary
City staff presented an interlocal agreement (ILA) to formalize coordination among the city of Spokane, Spokane County and the city of Spokane Valley on homelessness planning and shared data, tying local work to the state five-year plan to prevent and end homelessness.
City staff presented an interlocal agreement (ILA) intended to formalize how the city of Spokane, Spokane County and the city of Spokane Valley coordinate on homelessness planning, data sharing and funding priorities.
Don Kinder, city staff leading the briefing, told the committee the ILA “directs the county, the Valley, and the city of Spokane staff to partner more intentionally and more strategically to try and address the homelessness crisis.” The draft ties local actions to the state-required five-year plan to prevent and end homelessness and calls for shared work on coordination, outreach, counts and funding processes.
Staff said the agreement spells out joint responsibilities including coordinating outreach and planning, maintaining the housing inventory count (HIC) and the point-in-time count methodology, creating shared data agreements, and establishing regional procedures for inclement weather responses (cooling, warming and clean air). The ILA also recommends coordinated approaches to solicitations, standard contract templates and shared performance metrics to reduce administrative burdens on providers.
Kinder said the ILA is designed to make the collaboration less “relationship driven” and more project driven so that turnover among staff will not stop joint efforts. The draft runs five years — aligned with the state five-year plan — and can be amended during that period; any party may withdraw with 60 days’ notice. The briefing stressed the ILA itself does not appropriate funds and that execution would not, by itself, commit city funding.
Council members asked about member participation in staff meetings and about the amendment process. Kinder said regular meetings are envisioned for administrators or designees and that council members or staff could be invited. He also confirmed that suggested edits from councilors would be routed to the other jurisdictions’ legal teams, which could delay execution.
The committee received the briefing; no formal vote or execution was recorded during the session. Staff said they will continue coordination with county and Valley legal teams and aim to synchronize execution across jurisdictions.
