Citizen Portal
Sign In

State funding update: Thurston County's homeless-prevention award larger than projected but overall funding roughly flat

3639883 · May 31, 2025

Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts

Subscribe
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Thurston County staff reported the State Department of Commerce initially indicated a better-than-expected budget, then corrected awards downward; the county’s homeless-prevention (EPRA) funding rose to about $2.3 million per year while overall funding is roughly even with last year.

County staff told the Regional Housing Council the most recent state funding figures were better than earlier projections but a later Commerce formula correction reduced the amount slightly. Overall, however, the county’s total homelessness-related funding for the coming period is roughly flat compared with the prior year.

Tom (county staff) said the county had earlier planned for a roughly 20% reduction in state funds but Commerce issued a more favorable budget; the county then learned of an error and that awards must be adjusted downward by about $500,000 from the figure staff briefly expected. Tom said the net result is funding remains roughly at prior-year levels.

Tom also said the homeless-prevention (EPRA) allocation was substantially larger than staff originally projected: planners had budgeted for about $1 million per year but Commerce will provide about $2.3 million per year for homeless-prevention/rent assistance.

Staff said they are working to revise award amounts proportionally across eligible projects, inform agencies of adjusted awards, and bring final recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners in June. Final award numbers will be made public once contracts are complete.