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Sioux City council approves Iowa Homeless Prevention Fund contract; staff to roll out help for tenants with eviction notices
Summary
A consent-agenda resolution approved a contract with the Iowa Finance Authority to accept state homelessness-prevention funds. City staff said funds will assist tenants with eviction notices for up to three months; rollout expected in November.
Sioux City’s City Council approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution to accept state-funded homelessness-prevention money through a contract with the Iowa Finance Authority as part of the consent agenda.
The resolution was part of the consent agenda that passed 5-0. Jill Waters, neighborhood service manager, told council members this is a new state funding source intended to help people who are currently housed in standard apartments and who have an eviction notice. “If they have an eviction notice, they can apply for these funds and we can assist for up to 3 months, either back rent or moving forward,” Waters said.
Waters said the state reached out to jurisdictions that previously received ERA2 (Emergency Rental Assistance) funds and offered the new funding because of broad statewide need. “Previously, we had a homelessness prevention program that was funded with ERA 2 funds from the Department of the Treasury… since those were related to COVID, we don't have those funds available anymore,” she said.
City staff gave several operational details during the discussion: they are still working through program regulations, have not finalized whether assistance will be only back rent, only forward rent, or a mixture, and plan to begin a public rollout in November. Waters said the city has about $104,000 in this allocation and “about $80,000 that we can put towards rental assistance,” and noted that over the past roughly 2½–3 years the city has spent nearly $3,000,000 on homelessness-prevention rental assistance.
Council members asked whether the assistance included follow-up requirements; Waters said monthly check-ins with recipients are a program requirement used previously under ERA2. Waters described the intended effect as stabilizing tenants in their apartments and reducing wintertime evictions.
The resolution approving the contract with the Iowa Finance Authority was adopted as part of the consent agenda. City staff said they will finalize regulatory details before the program opens and will run a public information campaign when applications are available.
No additional restrictions or conditions on the funds were stated in the meeting record.
