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Thurston County approves $25.3 million Commerce agreement and $14.7 million in local homeless-service contracts amid commissioner concerns
Summary
The board approved an interagency agreement with the Washington State Department of Commerce for roughly $25.3 million and separate contracts funding 49 homeless-service projects totaling about $14.7 million; one commissioner voiced reservations about using $1.5 million in local Home Fund dollars that are combined into a single funding pool.
Thurston County commissioners voted to approve an interagency agreement with the Washington State Department of Commerce for homeless services funding of approximately $25,313,372 and separately approved contracts with 17 nonprofit organizations to fund 49 projects for an estimated $14,696,319 for the 2025–26 program year.
The measures were presented to the board by Jen Fryhite, Public Health Director. Fryhite told the commissioners the Commerce interagency agreement covers a two-year period from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, and that funds awarded under the Commerce agreement will be distributed to local providers based on recommendations from the regional housing council. On the separate contracts, Fryhite said Thurston-Mason Public Health and Social Services issued a consolidated request for proposals on Jan. 17, 2025, with applications due Feb. 28, 2025. Funding sources listed in the RFP included the Consolidated Homeless Grant (CHG), Housing and Essential Needs (HEN), eviction-prevention rent assistance, the Emergency Housing Fund, the Homeless Services Fund (HCHSF), HB 5386, and local Home Fund dollars.
The board voted to approve both the Commerce interagency agreement and the consolidated housing contracts. Motions to approve were moved and seconded on the record and the chair called the vote; the transcript records the motions as carried.
A commissioner who spoke during debate said they had reservations about the way multiple funding streams are braided into a single pot. That commissioner said approximately $1,500,000 from the Home Fund—a locally levied sales-tax–derived fund—was included in the combined pot and asked that the board consider holding that $1.5 million so it could be used to backstop ongoing operations for programs in other jurisdictions (the speaker named Quince Village, Plum Street Village and Unity Commons while describing local requests for assistance). The speaker asked whether holding that $1.5 million would require holding all contracts because the funding streams are not allocated stream-by-stream to particular projects; staff confirmed the contracts pool the money and that pausing the $1.5 million would effectively require holding up the overall contracts.
Another commissioner noted the board discussed these priorities at length in an earlier agenda-setting meeting and in a prior work session. After debate the motion to approve the contracts carried.
Why it matters: The Commerce agreement represents a sizable, multi-year state funding commitment routed through the county to local homeless-service providers. The county’s practice of combining multiple revenue streams into a single pool prompted at least one commissioner to ask for further review of whether locally controlled Home Fund dollars should be held separate to preserve capacity for particular shelter operations.
What’s next: The director of public health and social services is authorized to execute the agreements and to sign amendments within the board’s stated threshold (staff were authorized to execute any amendments that do not exceed 10% of a contract’s approved dollar amount or duration, per the motions on the record).
