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Clallam County issues $850,000 RFP cycle for housing and homelessness services amid shrinking local revenue
Summary
Clallam County staff moved to release a two‑year request for proposals totaling $850,000 for affordable housing and homeless housing assistance, while warning available local funds have dropped almost 50% due to lower document recording fees and potential loss of state supplemental funding.
Clallam County officials said the county will release a two‑year request for proposals for affordable housing and homelessness services with $850,000 available for contracts beginning July 1, 2025.
County staff presented the RFP framework Monday, saying $850,000 reflects local document recording fee revenue available over two years: $130,000 targeted to affordable housing (about $65,000 per contract year) and $720,000 targeted to homeless housing and assistance (about $360,000 per contract year). Staff told commissioners the available total is roughly half of levels in earlier cycles because local recording‑fee revenue has fallen, and supplemental document‑recording funds from the Washington State Department of Commerce that helped cover current contracts are uncertain for future years.
The funding priorities the county will advertise are shelter and housing, security mitigation for rental housing (to reduce landlords’ costs and encourage leasing to people exiting homelessness), and housing navigation and workforce development — a support for case management, navigation and services that help households move into and retain housing.
Staff said a committee of homeless‑service “boots on the ground” members set the priorities after reviewing the county’s 2021 gaps and needs analysis, past funding priorities and Commerce guidance for the county’s next five‑year plan. That committee’s recommendations were presented to the wider Homeless Task Force, which voted to move the priorities forward into the RFP.
Commissioners and staff warned the smaller pool will force difficult allocation choices. One commissioner noted Serenity House, a local shelter, currently receives a large share of existing local dollars and supplemental Commerce funding that expires this year; staff said Serenity House’s current contract is roughly in line with the amount locally available, and that maintaining open shelter operations will be a significant budget challenge if state supplements are not renewed. Staff said the RFP process will likely generate applications from multiple agencies and projects and urged the county to plan for hard prioritization decisions by the review committee.
The RFP will include two parallel application tracks: one for new program proposals and a simplified “existing program” application to ease renewal submissions where program design has not materially changed. Staff said they will ask the Homeless Task Force for five volunteers to serve on the review committee to evaluate proposals returned to the county.
Responses will be due March 3, 2025. Contracts resulting from the RFP would run July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027. Commissioners directed staff to publish the RFP and return with results and review‑committee recommendations at a future meeting.
