County commissioners press Metro for clearer fiscal impacts, partnership and realistic timelines on Supportive Housing Services reform

Washington County commissioners spent extensive time on Jan. 28 reviewing draft county comments on Metro's proposed referral and transition ordinances for Supportive Housing Services (SHS), pressing for clearer fiscal analysis, explicit partnership language, and more realistic timelines before county staff and providers are required to implement major changes.

Commissioners and county staff said the draft ordinances and referral lack key fiscal detail. County staff asked Metro to provide public, transparent estimates of the revenue and the fiscal impacts before any final decisions on revenues or tax thresholds are made. Commissioners repeatedly raised concerns about administrative burdens from new reporting and record requests, and warned that an overly broad reporting mandate could jeopardize multiyear contracts with service providers.

County staff also flagged governance and implementation questions. The draft creates a large advisory body (referred to in work materials as H2PAC or similar) whose size and charge prompted formal concerns: commissioners said a committee of the proposed size would be difficult to operate efficiently and asked that Metro clarify whether the advisory group's recommendations would be advisory or whether Metro would retain unilateral authority to adopt allocations. Staff pointed to differences between consultation models used for transportation (JPACT) and the draft process for housing and said the county expects a confer-and-consent relationship rather than unilateral action by Metro on funding distribution.

Other detailed concerns raised by county staff and commissioners included:

- Accountability and timelines: The county urged a coordinated calendar for reporting, budgeting and workplan cycles so allocation changes and new metrics do not collide with existing budget and contracting cycles. Staff noted Metro's proposed December 2025 adoption of an interim allocation plan would fall amid ongoing county budgeting and local implementation planning and could create cascading operational impacts.

- Transition sequencing and capacity: County staff asked Metro to produce a transition project plan that overlays current activities and clarifies what existing initiatives would be paused or continued during transition. Commissioners warned that the draft asks regional and county staff, plus volunteer advisory members, to do significant additional work within aggressive timeframes.

- Records and data access: The draft includes broad record-collection language that staff said could materially increase administrative workloads for counties and contracted service providers. County staff asked County Counsel to review whether three-way contracting terms or record-access language would be needed for providers covered by county contracts.

- Local implementation and accounting practices: The county emphasized that counties operate under independent charters and established financial and auditing practices. Staff said Metro cannot supplant county practices and that any regional plan must accommodate county-level budgeting, accounting and audit requirements, including how flexible SHS funds are braided with other federal and state funding streams.

County staff proposed language changes to the county's draft cover letter and ordinance comments to stress three core principles: public disclosure of fiscal impacts before final revenue decisions; recognition of county and service-provider capacity and a requirement to minimize administrative burden; and explicit language preserving partnership and local autonomy in implementation.

After discussion, county staff asked for and received commissioners' permission to revise the draft comments and cover letter for signature and submission to Metro within the schedule the county set. Chair Katherine Harrington said she intends to continue participating in Metro President Lynn Peterson's working group and asked which commissioners could also serve; commissioners indicated availability on non-Tuesday meeting days and expressed concern about frequency and timing of meetings.

County staff also reported that a data-sharing agreement draft (materials referenced in the packet) is circulating and that staff and the ITS team are working on technical details needed to balance Metro's information needs and county privacy and operational constraints.

No formal county vote or binding commitment on policy changes occurred at the Jan. 28 work session; staff will return revised comments and any minute order language to the board for follow-up as needed.