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Finance committee reviews $1.2M increase to emergency rental assistance contract to speed payouts
Summary
Committee approved a change order to add $1.2 million to the county's emergency rental assistance contract to accelerate spending before federal deadlines; staff said about $800,000 would be direct assistance and the remainder would cover administrative and operational costs.
The Hawaii County Finance Committee on July 8 reviewed and approved a change that adds $1.2 million to an existing emergency rental assistance contract to help distribute funds before the program ends Sept. 30.
Charmaine Felipe, business manager for Parks and Recreation, and Kehaal Costa, housing administrator, described the augmentation to the Neighborhood Place of Puna contract to move remaining rental-assistance dollars into the community. Kehaal Costa said roughly $800,000 of the $1.2 million increase would be directed to households as rental assistance; the rest would cover staffing and operational costs for program administration.
Why it matters: The county is trying to spend down federal emergency rental assistance funds before the Sept. 30 deadline; officials said the program has a substantial administrative burden similar to Section 8 voucher certification and that local providers needed resources to process applications quickly.
Key figures and program details - Increase amount: $1,200,000 added to an existing contract originally around $7.1 million. - Direct assistance vs. admin: County staff said about $800,000 will be direct to households; remaining funds are for staffing, operations and grant management. - Pace: Administrator said the program was spending roughly $500,000 a month in rental assistance during the recent reporting period; between May 1, 2024 and Feb. 2025 Neighborhood Place had distributed about $2.5 million to roughly 370 households.
Committee discussion focused on administrative costs and oversight. Council members asked whether the contract's administrative fee rate complied with federal rules; housing administrator said allowable administrative costs are included and that the overall program complied with federal regulations, and that a 20% cap was typical for administrative allowances. Council Member Ricardo thanked staff and community organizations for extra work to get funds out rapidly.
Action taken - Change-order approval: The committee accepted the change orders in communication 24.13 (which included this contract increase) as part of the consent to close file on the communication. The clerk recorded the committee vote on the communication and closed the file (clerk announced 8 members in favor, one excused). The change order increases Neighborhood Place of Puna's contract to deliver emergency rental assistance and administrative support through Sept. 30.
Ending note: Committee members asked staff to review total administrative costs charged by partner organizations and to provide metrics on clients served and admin expense for future oversight as the county spends down federal assistance funds.
