Washington County staff outline plan to downsize supportive housing services after lower Metro forecast

Molly Rogers, director of Housing Services for Washington County, told the Board of Commissioners that Metro's updated forecast shows lower-than-expected revenue for the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) measure and that county staff are recommending a multi‑year, planful transition to a smaller, “essential” system of care.

“For the first time in many weeks, we are not gonna talk about the SHS reform package this afternoon, but instead, frankly, something even more, more sobering than, what that could entail,” Rogers said, opening the presentation. She said the county has “just entered our fourth year of program implementation of the supportive housing services measure” and reported that “the revenue to fund the program was lower than previously forecast.”

Assistant Director Jess Larson presented financial details and the Metro forecast. Larson said that the updated five‑year forecast reduces collections by about $51,400,000 for the current fiscal year compared with earlier expectations and that Washington County’s allocation rate is now being recalculated against a smaller projected total. Larson described staff actions taken in the prior months, including delaying new programs and some nonessential hires, and said partners have begun planning for ramps down of temporary programs.

Rogers and Larson told the board that sustaining the present level of services would require further budget reductions and…