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Washoe County officials tell lawmakers homelessness, housing and behavioral health remain top priorities
Summary
Washoe County Chair Alexis Hill and County Manager Eric Brown briefed the Committee on Government Affairs on the county's budget, progress on homelessness, the planned behavioral health facility, and housing and infrastructure needs.
Alexis Hill, chair of the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners, and Eric Brown, Washoe County manager, told the Committee on Government Affairs that homelessness mitigation, affordable housing and behavioral health capacity remain top county priorities.
"We are being recognized nationally for reducing homelessness on the street by 40%," Hill said, while noting that demand for permanent housing still outstrips supply.
Brown said Washoe County now has a population over 510,000 and that county operations include roughly 3,100 employees and a 2025 budget of about $1.16 billion with roughly $153 million in capital projects underway. He identified property tax as the county's largest and most stable revenue source and consolidated (sales) tax distributions at about $160 million as more volatile.
County officials described several homelessness initiatives. The CARES campus and related programs, funded in part by CARES Act and ARPA dollars, have moved nearly 400 people into permanent housing, Hill said, and a case-management pilot showed high retention: county presenters reported a 96% housing retention rate among people who received case management after exit from shelter. Hill said the county is piloting a 50-bed permanent supportive housing project at the CARES campus scheduled to open in April under Home Mates Nevada (as described to the committee).
Officials said the county's sequential intercept model aims to divert people with mental illness from jail to treatment where appropriate; the county reported $3 million in annual savings from reduced jail placements in the pilot program. The county also told the committee it received a $14 million capital appropriation for a behavioral health facility that county presenters said would include pediatric beds and is expected to open in 2027.
Presenters highlighted other county priorities, including road and stormwater funding needs (Washoe County gave those categories lower grade scores on an internal scorecard), senior services and language access. The county described a recent launch of an AI translation application to provide meeting translations for people with limited English proficiency and said it is working regionally to create a computer-aided dispatch center for emergency response.
Committee members asked questions about partnerships with Reno and Sparks on homelessness and housing roles, permitting and development processes to speed housing production, water and sewer capacity for growth, citizen advisory boards and youth homelessness. County officials said they are coordinating regionally, exploring fast-track permitting for certain affordable housing tiers, studying sewer capacity and expanding development outreach and neighborhood meetings to solicit early public input.
A member of the public, Dora Martinez, testified by phone in support of senior transit vouchers and asked that unused Lyft or taxi vouchers roll forward so seniors can use them in later months.
